+   ROOSEVELT'S  * 
RELIGION 


CHR 


F.  REISNER 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  THIS  AUTHOR 


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SHEPHERD  PSALM 

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,4^^-      <*  6  "         I   ?  °  6 


Roosevelt's  Religion 


By 
CHRISTIAN  F.  REISNER 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


-f 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
CHRISTIAN  F.  REISNER 


Printed  in   the   United   States   of  America 


TO   YOUNG    MEN 

IN    THE    HOPE 
THAT   THEY    MAY    BE    AS   WISE    AS    WAS 

MR.  ROOSEVELT 
IN  APPRECIATING  AND  APPROPRIATING 

CONCRETE    CHRISTIANITY 


562769 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PRESIDENT  HARD  ING'S  TESTIMONY.,  facing     10 
LEONARD  WOOD'S  TESTIMONY facing     11 

AN  EXPLANATION 11 

I.  THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME 19 

II.  His  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME 37 

III.  A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF 55 

IV.  PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  FOR  His  CA 

REER  71 

V.  THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS 90 

VI.  A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE 112 

VII.  A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND 135 

VIII.  THE  BROTHER  OF  His  PEOPLE 162 

IX.  PUBLIC  DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED  . .  184 
X.  PREACHED  AND  PRACTICED  HIGH  IDEALS  . .  204 
XI.  WAS  HE  A  CHRISTIAN?    OTHERS'  TESTI 
MONY 228 

XII.  WAS  HE  A  CHRISTIAN?    His  OWN  TESTI 
MONY  247 

XIII.  A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND 275 

XIV.  DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION 292 

XV.  His  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE 305 

XVI.  DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH? 324 

XVII.  CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK 341 

BOOKS  USED  AS  REFERENCES 371 

INDEX.  .  375 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

COPY  OF  A  LARGE  PHOTOGKAPH  INSCRIBED  AND 
PRESENTED  TO  A  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER 
BY  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

"BILL"  SEWALL  AND  A  LAD  FROM  THE  ROOSE 
VELT  MILITARY  ACADEMY 75 

THE  SIMPLE  MARBLE  SLAB  WHICH  MARKS  MR. 
ROOSEVELT'S  LAST  RESTING  PLACE 113 

A  FAMOUS  TRIO  AT  CHAUTAUQUA,  NEW  YORK: 
JACOB  A.  Rns  (ON  LEFT),  THEODORE  ROOSE 
VELT,  AND  (BISHOP)  JOHN  H.  VINCENT 137 

THE  VISITORS  AT  THE  GRAVE  DURING  THIRTY 

MINUTES  OF  AN  ORDINARY  DAY 16.3 

MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  FAVORITE  PHOTOGRAPH  (AND 
THE  CHOICE  OF  His  CLOSEST  FRIENDS) 185 

THE  FUNERAL  CORTEGE  ENTERING  CHRIST 

CHURCH  AT  OYSTER  BAY 203 

THE  EARNEST  "PREACHER"  IN  ACTION 225 

"BILL"  SEW  ALL'S  LETTER  DESCRIBING  MR. 

ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 231 

GRACE  REFORMED  CHURCH,  15TH  STREET  N.  W., 
NEAR  RHODE  ISLAND  AVENUE,  WASHING 
TON,  D.  C 235 

GRACE  REFORMED  CHURCH  (INTERIOR  VIEWS)  . .  249 


10  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


THE  BIBLE  PRESENTED  TO  VICE-PRESIDENT 
ROOSEVELT  BY  THE  HARVARD  REPUBLICAN 
CLUB 305 

MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  OUTLINE  OF  A  TALK  GIVEN 

TO  A  BIBLE  CLASS  IN  OYSTER  BAY 312 

THE  INSCRIPTION  PREPARED  BY  MR.  ROOSEVELT 
FOR  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  GIVEN  TO  SOL 
DIERS  GOING  OVERSEAS 321 

THE  OYSTER  BAY  HOME  (CHRIST)  CHURCH 329 

Two  CHURCH  DOORS..  .  343 


WARREN  G.  HARDING 

MARION.  OHIO. 


January  6,  1981. 


Rev.  Christian  F.  Reisner, 
550  West  157th  St., 
New  York  City, 

Dear  Sir:-- • 

Replying  to  your  letter  December  21st 
in  which  you  request  some  expression  from  me 
concerning  my  impressions  of  "Theodore  Roosevelt 
the  Christian"  -  Permit  me  to  say  that  I  am 
convinced  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  had  a  devout 
"belief  in  God  and  though  a  consistent  churchman 
he  never  paraded  his  "belief,  "but  it  was  evident 
in  his  writings,  in  his  speeches  and  in  his 
conduct.  His  clean  personal  life  is  the  "best 
proof  of  his  faith  and  belief. 

That  he  was  a  close  student  of  the 
Bible  was  but  natural  since  he  was  ever  a  seeker 
after  Truth.  Unquestionably  he  believed  in 
prayer,  not  only  as  a  means  of  grace,  but  as 
a  .personal  help  and  consolation. 


Yours  truly 


Personal  ... 


Fort  Sheridan,  Illinois, 
January  Twelf th. 
Nineteen  Twenty-One. 


Dear  Dr.  Reisner: 

Answering  your  letter  of  the  tenth: 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  true  Christian.     Ho  believed 
In  God,  and  that  all  peoples  must  have  l£<X»i^1K,  that  a  nation 
forsaking  its  religion  is  a  decadent  naftion.     He  was  a  church 
goer,  as  an  evidence  of  his  faith  and  for  purpose  of  worship. 
His  life,  his  ideals   and  his  acts  established  his   faith  in  God. 
He  was  a  reader  of  the  Bible.     I  have  no  recollection  of  hearing 
him  take   the  nane  of  God  in  vain.     I  believe  that  he  gathered 
many  of  his  ethical  ideals  from  the  Scriptures.     His  courage 
was  maintained  by  his  sense  of  righteousness  and  justice.     He  was 
clean  in  thou^it  and  speech;  a  man  of  broad  sympathy,  a  sympathy 
limited  neither  by  race  nor  creed.     He  was  a  doer  of  good  works, 
and  a  strenuous  advocate  of  those  principles  which  are  laid  down 
in  the   Comma  ulmen  ts  • 


Dr.   Qiristlan  P.  Resiner, 
550  W.  157th  Street, 
New  York  City. 


AN  EXPLANATION 

A  RECENTLY  published  bibliography  containing  a 
list  of  over  five  hundred  books  and  pamphlets  about 
and  by  Theodore  Roosevelt  contains  not  a  single  arti 
cle,  pamphlet,  or  book  about  Mr.  Roosevelt's  religion. 
Religion  was  the  heart  of  his  life,  the  creator  of  his 
ideals,  the  sustainer  of  his  courage,  the  feeder  of 
his  faith,  and  the  fountain  of  his  wisdom.  Without 
religion  the  greatness  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  inex 
plicable.  He  was  a  typical  and  outstanding  Amer 
ican  because  he  did  have  a  vital  religious  faith  and 
a  daily  practice  consistent  with  it. 

Gladstone  near  the  end  of  his  life  said : 

I  have  been  in  public  life  fifty-eight  years,  and  forty- 
seven  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  British  government,  and  during 
these  forty-seven  years  I  have  been  associated  with  sixty 
of  the  master  minds  of  the  country  and  all  but  five  were 
Christians. 

All  history  will  show  that  pure  religion  builds  the 
greatest  leaders  of  earth.  To  find  a  truly  great  man 
is  to  find  a  man  with  faith  in  the  Father-God  and  one 
who  has  consciously  or  unconsciously  followed  the 
program  of  Jesus. 

American  history  was  made  by  Christians — and 
this  term  is  not  used  in  a  narrow,  sectarian  sense. 
It  is  employed  in  the  spirit  of  the  Great  Teacher  who, 
when  the  disciples  reported  that  they  checked  one 
who  was  "casting  out  devils"  because  he  "followed 

11 


12  AN  EXPLANATION 

not  with  us"  told  them,  ''Forbid  him  not,  for  he 
that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us." 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers  began  the  New  England 
colony  with  prayer.  Our  first  constitutional  conven 
tion  at  Benjamin  Franklin's  suggestion,  opened  its 
sessions  with  a  religious  service.  Washington  of 
fered  petitions  in  secluded  places  in  the  forest. 
Abraham  Lincoln  sent  for  Bishop  Simpson,  that 
they  might  pray  together  at  critical  times.  William 
McKinley  in  his  death  hour  gave  a  new  meaning  to 
the  forgiveness  of  enemies.  When  the  Titanic  car 
ried  down  the  brave  American  men  who  had  sent  the 
women  away  safely  in  the  lifeboats,  the  band  played 
"Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee"  as  the  ship  sank. 

The  three  generals  who  led  the  Allied  forces  to  vic 
tory  were  General  Foch,  a  devout  Roman  Catholic, 
who  prayed  much  daily;  General  Haig,  a  faithful 
Presbyterian;  and  General  Pershing,  who  was  reared 
in  the  Methodist  Church  and  is  now  a  communicant 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  All  agree  that 
there  were  no  atheists  in  the  trenches. 

A  careful  investigation  will  show  that  the  great 
men  of  America  are  believers  in  God  and  in  the 
brotherhood  of  man  as  exemplified  by  the  Father's 
Son,  who  came  to  earth  and  lived  among  men. 

Men  are  not  rewarded  for  their  "faith"  in  an  ar 
bitrary  way,  but  such  faith  and  training  develops 
and  equips  big  men  and  sustains  them  under  strain. 
The  promise  was  "Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God"- 
the  rulership  of  the  Christ  spirit — and  "all  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you,"  and  that  promise  is  liter 
ally  fulfilled. 


AN  EXPLANATION  13 

Theodore  Roosevelt  stands  out  as  the  towering, 
unquestioned  illustration  of  the  size  and  kind  of 
men  pure  religion  builds.  He  was  strongly  human 
and  yet  devout,  admittedly  imperfect  and  yet  sin 
cerely  seeking  the  truth,  notably  self-confident  and 
yet  avowedly  a  worshipful  disciple  of  the  humble 
Teacher  of  Galilee.  He  went  away  from  earth  carry 
ing  the  diploma  of  a  completed  life  course,  and 
hence  is  a  beckoning  example  to  all  who  would  think 
widely,  contest  successfully,  serve  steadily,  live  hap 
pily,  and  cross  the  river  at  the  end  triumphantly. 

The  words  of  many  witnesses  following  various 
vocations  have  been  freely  and  frequently  quoted  be 
cause  the  important  subject  of  religion  dare  not 
be  left  either  to  an  author's  declarations  or  even  to 
his  interpretation  of  quotations.  The  evidence  pre 
sented  will  be  recognized  as  conclusive. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  appreciation  to 
the  publishers  of  the  following  volumes  for  their 
courtesy  in  permitting  unusual  liberty  in  quoting 
from  Mr.  Roosevelt's  writings : 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Man  as  I  Knew  Him.  By 
Ferdinand  C.  Iglehart.  The  Christian  Herald,  Pub 
lishers. 

"Bill"  Sewall's  Story  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By 
William  Wingate  Sewall.  Harper  &  Brothers,  Pub 
lishers. 

The  Boy's  Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Herman 
Hagedorn.  Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  William  Koscoe  Thayer. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  Publishers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Logic  of  His  Career.    By 


14  AN  EXPLANATION 

Charles  G.  Washburn.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 
Publishers. 

Talks  With  T.  R.  By  John  J.  Leary,  Jr.  Hough- 
ton  Mifflin  Company,  Publishers. 

The  Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  William 
Draper  Lewis.  John  C.  Winston  Company,  Pub 
lishers. 

Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Lawrence 
F.  Abbott.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Company,  Publishers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Boy  and  the  Man.  By 
James  Morgan.  The  Macmillan  Company,  Pub 
lishers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Citizen.  By  Jacob  Riis. 
The  Macmillan  Company,  Publishers. 

Personal  Memoirs  of  the  Home  Life  of  the  Late 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Albert  Loren  Cheney. 
Cheney  Publishing  Company,  Publishers. 

American  Ideals  and  Other  Essays.  By  Theodore 
Roosevelt.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  Publishers. 

Roosevelt,  Ilis  Life  Meaning  and  Messages,  Vol.  I 
—The  Roosevelt  Policy.  The  Current  Literature 
Company,  Publishers. 

The  Many-Hided  Roosevelt.  By  George  William 
Douglas.  Dodd,  Mead  &  Company,  Publishers. 

From  the  Jungle  Through  Europe  ivith  Roosevelt. 
By  John  O'Laughlin.  Chappie  Publishing  Company, 
Ltd.,  Boston,  Publishers. 

Realizable  Ideals — The  Earl  Lectures,  delivered 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Pacific  Theological  Semi 
nary.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt.  Whitaker  &  Ray- 
Wiggin  Co.,  Publishers,  San  Francisco. 


AN  EXPLANATION  15 

Theodore  Roosevelt  as  an  Undergraduate.  By 
Donald  Wilhelm.  John  W.  Luce  &  Co.,  Publishers. 

While  Mr.  Koosevelt  had  a  profound  and  workable 
creed,  he  seldom  talked  about  or  detailed  it.  Yet  he 
lived  a  very  definite  one.  Theories  interested  him 
very  little;  he  demanded  practice.  He  agreed  with 
James:  "I  will  show  you  my  faith  by  my  works." 
Nevertheless,  he  emphasized  the  necessity  of  faith 
and  worship.  New  York's  children,  uninstructed, 
might  decide  that  trees  are  not  necessary  to  furnish 
fruit;  there  is  such  an  abundance  in  the  stores. 
One  is  prone  to  conclude  after  reading  the  many 
high-sounding  phrases  divorced  from  any  mention 
of  God,  about  "right,"  "honesty,"  "service,"  "the 
Golden  Kule,"  and  "morality,"  that  these  grew  in 
the  air  or  were  self-existent  entities.  These  words 
have  full  meaning  only  in  Christian  communities. 
Every  ideal  with  power  in  it  or  moral  word  which 
possesses  red  blood,  grew  on  the  tree  called  religion. 
Where  there  is  no  religion,  or  God,  or  church,  there 
is  no  moral  practice,  progress,  or  security.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said,  "A  churchless  community  is  a  com 
munity  on  the  rapid  downgrade."  Again  he  said, 
"Every  sensible  man  believes  in  and  practices  re 
ligion." 

To  take  God  out  of  consideration  when  viewing 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  life  is  to  mislead  the  people  and 
lessen  the  permanency  of  his  influence.  Without  a 
religious  training  similar  to  that  which  he  and  his 
associates  received  and  followed,  there  will  be  no 
leaders  of  caliber  and  strength  to  succeed  the  pres- 


16  AN  EXPLANATION 

ent-day  leaders;  teachers  and  parents  must  realize 
that  or  fail  at  their  task.  The  child  without  a  re 
ligious  training  is  unfitted  to  meet  life's  problems 
successfully. 

Religion  does  not  consist  alone  of  prayer,  Bible 
reading,  and  church  attendance.  While  necessary 
for  ripest  development,  they  are  but  sunshine,  rain, 
and  soil  which  feed  the  roots  of  faith  and  enable  the 
character  to  bear  fruit  in  words  and  deeds  of  right 
eousness.  Neither  does  any  religion  require  humans 
who  profess  it  to  be  without  flaw  or  periods  of 
failure.  The  orchard  is  not  dug  up  because  it  bears 
some  scrubby  fruit,  or  even  if  it  fails  to  produce  for 
one  whole  season.  Americanism  is  often  cheapened 
by  hypocrites;  none  of  us  reach  our  highest  ideals 
as  citizens,  and  yet  we  do  not  refrain  from  profess 
ing  to  be  an  "American"  on  this  account.  It  is  un 
fair  to  demand  that  those  who  announce  themselves 
as  pupils  in  the  school  of  Christ,  by  professing  to 
be  Christians,  should  be  flawless. 

This  book  will  review  all  phases  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  life  but  with  the  single  purpose  of  exhibiting 
his  religious  traits.  His  ordinary  faults  will  be 
taken  for  granted.  No  one  will  conclude,  therefore, 
that  he  had  no  temptations  or  failures  or  lapses  from 
a  perfect  Christian  standard  because  they  are  not 
presented. 

His  religion  is  traced  back  to  his  childhood,  fol 
lowed  in  his  own  home,  discovered  in  his  ideals, 
teachings,  and  activities,  and  confidently  identified 
in  his  church  affiliations  and  advocacies.  The  ma 
terial  has  been  gathered  from  biographies  and  arti- 


AN  EXPLANATION  17 

cles,  the  writings  and  addresses  of  Mr.  Roosevelt 
and  from  interviews  with  such  high  authorities  as 
Mrs.  Corinne  Roosevelt  Robinson,  the  Hon.  Oscar 
Straus,  Dr.  Lyinan  Abbott,  General  Leonard  Wood, 
President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Gifford  Pinchot, 
W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  (his  cousin),  William  Loeb, 
Mr.  McGrath,  Dr.  Alex.  Lambert,  "Bill"  Sewall, 
H.  L.  Stoddard,  A.  G.  Van  Valkenburg,  and  Major 
George  Haven  Putnam. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  reared  in  a  deeply  religious 
home  and  gave  his  children  a  similar  training.  He 
joined  the  church  at  sixteen  and  attended  regularly. 
He  was  a  close  student  of  the  Bible,  chose  religious 
men  as  associates,  and  accepted  many  of  the  "mys 
tical"  elements  of  religion.  He  said,  "I  have  had 
to  deliver  a  good  many  lay  sermons."  And  Bruce 
Barton  wrote:  "Why  was  it  that  with  all  his 
faults  we  loved  Theodore  Roosevelt  so  well?  He 
preached  at  us  disturbingly,  but  he  practiced  what 
he  preached."  Mr.  Morley  said  of  him,  "He  has 
many  of  Napoleon's  qualities :  indomitable  courage, 
tireless  perseverance,  great  capacity  for  leadership, 
and  one  thing  that  Napoleon  never  had — high  moral 
purpose."  He  had  ideals  of  duty  and  lived  and  en 
forced  them.  He  was  pure  in  heart,  mind,  and 
tongue  and  reverent  always;  he  never  even  took 
God's  name  in  vain.  He  asserted  that  "Every  man 
who  is  a  Christian  should  join  some  church."  He  de 
fended  and  supported  both  foreign  and  home  mis 
sions. 

He  obeyed  Paul's  injunction,  "Redeeming  the 
time"  (Eph.  5.  16).  This  is  translated  by  some 


18  AN  EXPLANATION 

"buying  up  opportunity/7  or,  as  Moffatt  translates  it, 
"Make  the  very  most  of  your  time."  He  never  wasted 
a  moment.  For  example,  every  day  after  tramping 
and  hunting  in  Africa,  though  very  weary,  with 
dogged  persistence  he  wrote  his  articles  for  Scrib- 
ners  and  dispatched  them  by  three  different  "run 
ners,"  so  that  at  least  one  would  get  through.  He 
always  forged  straight  forward,  following  "his 
lights,"  though  at  times  he  walked  almost  alone.  He 
literally  had  the  more  "abundant  life"  promised  be 
lievers.  He  fearlessly  and  buoyantly  met  the  issue 
of  every  day  and  lived  it  full,  allowing  the  next  to 
take  care  of  itself.  He  indeed  appropriated  the 
words  written  by  Victor  Hugo : 

"Let  us  be  like  the  bird 

New  lighted  on  a  twig  that  swings: 
He  feels  its  sway  but  sings,  on  unaffrighted, 
Knowing  he  has  his  wings." 


CHAPTER  I 
THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME 

"Then  papa  and  I  went  for  a  long  roam  in  the  woods  and 
had  Sunday  school  in  them.  I  drew  a  church,  and  I  am 
now  going  to  bed." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 


Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go:  and  when  he 
is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it. — Prov.  '22.  6. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  mixed  ancestry  made  him 
a  notable  illustration  of  a  distinctive 
Christian  doctrine — namely,  the  common 
brotherhood  of  all  humanity.  And  he  never  forgot 
that  suggestive  fact.  His  paternal  ancestor  came  to 
America  as  a  steerage  passenger  in  1644  from  Hol 
land.  He  found  in  the  environs  of  New  York  four 
hundred  or  five  hundred  people  who  spoke  eighteen 
different  languages :  already  the  land  was  cosmopoli 
tan.  After  that  for  seven  generations  every  son  was 
born  on  Manhattan  Island.  Mr.  Roosevelt  frequently 
recalled  the  fact  that  many  nationalities  were 
merged  in  him.  He  once  said: 

I  myself  represent  an  instance  of  fusion  of  several  dif 
ferent  stocks,  my  blood  most  largely  Lowland  Scotch,  next 
to  that  Dutch,  with  a  strain  of  French  Huguenot  and  of 
Gaelic,  my  ancestors  having  been  here  for  the  most  part 
of  two  centuries.  My  Dutch  forebears  kept  their  blood 
practically  unmixed  until  the  days  of  my  grandfather,  and 
his  father  was  the  first  in  the  line  to  use  English  as  the 
invariable  home  tongue. 

19 


20  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

His  ancestors  set  him  an  example  of  public  serv 
ice.  A  great-uncle  of  Roosevelt,  Nicholas  J.,  shared 
with  Fulton  the  honor  of  developing  the  steamboat. 
Two  ancestors  were  aldermen  in  the  New  York  Dutch 
Village  of  early  days  and  legislated  to  open  the 
street  which  bears  their  name.  Another,  Isaac 
Roosevelt,  sat  in  the  constitutional  convention  with 
Alexander  Hamilton.  A  Roosevelt  started  one  of  the 
first  banks  in  New  York  and  was  its  president. 

From  his  mother's  side  he  had  Welsh,  Irish,  and 
German  blood.  Her  forebears  came  to  Pennsylvania 
with  William  Penn,  though  she  herself  was  born  in 
Georgia. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  himself  testifies  to  the  remarkable 
influence  of  his  Christian  father  when  he  tells  us 
that  very  early  the  children  were  taught  that  girls 
and  boys  must  have  the  "same  standard  of  clean  liv 
ing,"  for  what  was  wrong  for  a  woman  was  equally 
culpable  for  a  man.  In  his  Pacific  Theological  Lec 
tures  he  says :  "If  the  man  preaches  and  practices  a 
different  code  of  morality  for  himself  than  that 
which  he  demands  his  wife  shall  practice  ...  he 
is  fundamentally  a  bad  citizen." 

In  writing  to  Edward  S.  Martin  on  November  20, 
1920,  Mr.  Roosevelt  emphasized  the  masculinity  of 
his  father,  together  with  the  tenderness  and  purity 
of  his  nature.  He  recalled  the  fact  that  while  his 
father  recognized  him  to  be  a  sickly  and  timid  boy, 
he  did  not  coddle  him  but  trained  him  to  hold  his 
own  with  older  boys  and  to  be  ready  to  do  some  of 
the  rough  work  of  the  world.  His  father  insisted 
that  if  he  were  "decent"  and  manly  at  the  same  time, 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         21 

the  respect  for  his  manliness  would  keep  others 
from  ridiculing  his  decency.  The  teaching  and  char 
acter  of  his  father  created  such  a  love  and  respect 
that  he  says,  "I  would  have  hated  and  dreaded  be 
yond  measure  to  have  him  know  that  I  had  been 
guilty  of  a  lie,  or  of  cruelty,  or  of  bullying  or  of  un- 
cleanness  or  of  cowardice." 

Mr.  Eoosevelt's  father  had  a  character  which 
commanded  a  righteous  respect.  He  administered 
corporal  punishment  only  once  to  Theodore,  who 
had  bitten  his  sister  Anna's  arm.  He  hid  first  in 
the  yard  and  then  under  the  kitchen  table,  hoping 
thus  to  avoid  the  punishment  he  knew  was  merited. 
His  father  followed  him  on  all  fours  under  the  table. 
The  culprit  rushed  out,  flung  at  his  father  a  handful 
of  dough  which  he  grabbed  off  the  table,  and  ran 
for  the  stairs.  But  here  he  was  intercepted  and  re 
ceived  a  punishment  which  he  "remembered." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  summed  up  his  whole  estimate  of 
his  father  in  the  words,  "My  father,  Theodore  Roose 
velt,  was  the  best  man  I  ever  knew."  His  father  had 
a  remarkable  influence  on  him.  Some  of  Theodore's 
firm  traits  and  activities  are,  therefore,  understood 
when  one  reviews  the  father's  life. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  James  M.  Ludlow,  who  was  the 
senior  Roosevelt's  pastor  for  several  years,  told  me : 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  Sr.,  was  a  very  companionable  man.  He 
was  naturally  aristocratic  but  never  snobbish.  Mrs.  Roose 
velt  was  dignified  and  retiring,  but  a  very  sweet  woman 
who  always  won  her  way.  The  sister,  Miss  Gracey,  was 
much  like  her.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  always  very  active  in 
movements  for  reform.  He  was  passionate  in  his  attacks 
on  evil.  He  exhibited  an  easy  control  except  when  some 


22  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

notable  wrong  was  called  to  his  attention.  He  then  became 
a  bundle  of  wrath.  He  was  a  prophet  of  righteousness, 
and  he  would  not  mince  matters  in  going  after  sinners 
high  or  low.  His  son  constantly  reminded  me  of  him  in 
this  respect. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  very  loyal  to  the  memory  of  his 
father.  His  uncle,  R.  B.  Roosevelt,  was  nominated 
as  a  Presidential  elector  by  the  Democrats,  to  which 
party  he  belonged,  but  he  declined  to  serve,  out  of 
regard  for  his  nephew,  who  was  at  that  time  the  Re 
publican  candidate.  Later  he  was  President  Roose 
velt's  guest  at  his  inaugural,  and  on  his  return  he 
received  a  letter  from  the  President,  expressing  per 
sonal  gratification  that  the  uncle  had  attended  the 
inauguration,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  also  be 
cause  he  so  vividly  reminded  him  of  his  own  father. 
He  showed  that  the  presence  of  his  father  was 
never  forgotten,  for  he  wrote,  "How  I  wish  father 
could  have  lived  to  see  it  too!" 

Theodore,  Sr.,  was  normally  a  Republican,  but  he 
could  not  stand  the  rule  of  the  bosses  who  collected 
from  the  corporations  and  refused  to  walk  uprightly, 
and  he  arraigned  them  vigorously.  President  Hayes 
admired  his  independence  and  nominated  him  for 
collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York,  but  the  bosses,  un 
willing  to  see  the  highest  Federal  office  in  the  gift  of 
the  state  held  by  a  man  they  could  not  control,  kept 
the  Senate  from  confirming  him,  and  so  he  never 
filled  the  office. 

His  father  did  not  enter  the  Civil  War  as  an  actual 
fighter,  though  he  was  a  Lincoln  Republican  and 
heartily  backed  the  Union.  He  had  married  a  woman 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         23 

heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  Confederacy  and  was 
therefore  compelled  to  exercise  rare  powers  of  con 
ciliation  and  charity.  This  situation  also  provi 
dentially  prepared  the  son  to  merge  the  North  and 
South  together.  He  nevertheless  rendered  priceless 
aid  to  the  Union  cause,  so  that  in  spite  of  a  divided 
home  concerning  the  war,  Theodore  grew  up  in  a 
"loyal"  household. 

His  activities  were  so  eminently  "social"  that  their 
influence  is  recognized  in  the  son's  ideals.  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  Sr.,  proposed  and  carried  to  success 
State  and  national  legislation  to  enable  the  soldiers 
to  allot  part  of  their  salaries  to  their  families  so 
that  it  would  be  paid  directly  to  them.  He  traveled 
and  talked  and  finally  lived  for  three  months  in 
Washington  to  get  the  bill  passed.  Congressmen  in 
those  days  could  not  understand  how  any  man  should 
desire  legislation  without  a  selfish  purpose,  and  for 
a  time  they  watched  him  suspiciously.  But  his  high 
standing  finally  removed  that  suspicion.  He  was 
appointed  one  of  the  New  York  State  Commission 
ers  and  visited  the  various  camps  in  the  State,  riding 
six  or  eight  hours  a  day  on  horseback  to  do  so.  He 
then  stood  in  the  snow  and  slush  pleading  with  the 
soldiers  to  sign  over  some  of  their  pay  to  their  starv 
ing  families.  He  often  found  the  soldiers  hardened 
into  utter  listlessness  concerning  home  folk,  but  he 
urged  in  mass  meeting  and  by  individual  appeal 
until  he  secured  their  signatures.  The  sutlers,  who 
wanted  to  get  the  soldiers'  money  for  rum,  opposed 
him  persistently.  Theodore,  Junior,  imbibed  an  in 
tense  patriotism,  for  his  father  worked  with  the 


24  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"Loyal  Publication  Society,"  which  scattered  in 
formation  about  the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  right 
eousness  of  the  Union's  side.  It  was  badly  needed 
in  New  York,  not  always  loyal  in  those  days.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  which  club  aided  in  raising  and  equipping  the 
first  Negro  regiment. 

War  charity,  as  usual,  led  to  vast  waste ;  he  initi 
ated  methods  to  systematize  the  expenditures  and 
reduce  the  waste.  He  called  conferences  of  Jews, 
Catholics,  and  Protestants,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
organizing  a  city  and  then  a  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  became  its  first  president. 

He  was  also  an  active  worker  on  the  Advisory 
Board  of  the  Woman's  Central  Association  of  Re 
lief,  formed  in  Cooper  Union  the  latter  part  of 
April,  1861,  to  furnish  supplies  and  nurses  to  weak, 
sick,  and  injured  soldiers.  This  grew  into  the  Sani 
tary  Commission  and  ultimately  into  the  American 
Red  Cross. 

Then  too  he  did  much  to  aid  the  unemployed  and 
unprotected  soldiers  in  their  attempt  to  get  started 
in  civilian  life. 

Thousands  of  soldiers  had  drifted  into  New  York 
city  and  could  find  no  way  to  support  themselves. 
He  organized  in  his  own  home  the  "Soldiers'  Employ 
ment  Bureau."  This  bureau  also  aided  crippled 
soldiers  to  find  fitting  vocations.  Many  of  these 
soldiers  had  not  received  their  salaries  from  the  gov 
ernment,  and  grafting  agents  were  buying  their 
claims  and  exacting  heavy  fees.  For  their  protection 
he  helped  form  the  "Protective  War  Claims  Asso- 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         25 

elation,"  which  aided  the  soldiers  without  charge 
and  saved  them  over  one  million  dollars  in  fees. 

He  was  particularly  interested  in  preventing 
cruelty  to  children  and  to  animals  and  encouraged 
various  organizations  working  along  these  lines.  He 
gave  much  time  to  the  Newsboys'  Lodging  Houses, 
which  were  effective  in  keeping  the  boys  off  the  street, 
where  they  were  prone  to  learn  criminal-making 
habits.  Every  Sunday  evening  he  spent  at  one  of 
these  homes.  One  orphan  boy  picked  up  on  the  street 
was  located  on  a  Western  farm  with  foster  parents 
by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  Sr.  The  lad,  afterward  grown 
into  unusual  ability,  greeted  President  Roosevelt  as 
Governor  Brady,  of  Alaska,  and  told  him  of  the 
father's  helpfulness. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ludlow  recounted  a  characteristic 
incident  of  the  father  to  the  writer,  that  reminds 
one  of  the  President: 

A  distinguished  group  of  men  was  being  entertained  at 
dinner  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the  father,  and  I  was  included  as 
his  pastor.  He  was  very  orderly  and  observant  of  all  the 
nicest  customs  on  such  an  occasion.  His  servants  were 
well  trained,  his  bearing  was  that  of  an  old-school  gentle 
man,  and  he  was  very  punctilious  about  such  a  dignified 
dinner.  The  butler  with  much  hesitation  appeared  and 
whispered  to  the  host.  Mr.  Roosevelt  grew  red  in  the  face 
but  stopped  the  dinner  service  and  asked  to  be  excused.  In 
about  ten  minutes  he  returned  and  proposed  to  tell  us  why 
he  left.  We  assured  him  that  it  was  not  necessary  but  he 
insisted.  He  said:  "You  know  I  am  interested  in  the  news 
boys'  home.  I  told  the  boys  that  if  they  had  any  trouble 
in  getting  ready  for  Christmas  to  come  up  and  see  me. 
I  overheard  one  lad  say:  'He's  just  kidding  you.  That 
bloke  wouldn't  see  you  at  his  fine  home.'  Well,  one  of  the 


26  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

boys  came  a  few  moments  ago.  Though  I  never  leave  a  din 
ner  party,  I  had  to  do  so  for  these  lads.  I  could,  if  neces 
sary,  lose  your  respect,  but  I  must  not  lose  my  grip  on 
these  boys." 

George  Haven  Putnam  declares :  "It  was  to  the 
initiative  and  unselfish  cooperation  of  Theodore's 
father  and  uncle  that  the  city  owes  the  Roosevelt 
Hospital." 

Mrs.  Robinson  talked  to  me  about  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
Sr.,  and  his  good-Samaritan  work  and  teaching : 

My  sister  Anna  (afterward  Mrs.  Cowles,  the  wife  of  the 
Admiral)  suffered  from  spinal  trouble.  There  was  then 
little  hope  for  one  thus  afflicted.  Usually  the  patients  must 
lie  still  in  bed  until  frequently  they  lost  the  use  of  their 
limbs.  But  father  became  interested  in  a  young  doctor, 
Charles  Fayette  Taylor,  who  proposed  the  modern  treatment 
with  braces.  Father  tried  to  found  a  hospital  for  this  kind 
of  treatment  but  failed  to  secure  financial  support,  until  he 
gave  a  reception  at  our  home.  He  had  the  little  sufferers 
brought  and  laid  on  the  dining  room  table  so  that  the 
braces  could  be  seen  and  the  curative  effects  be  established. 
My  father  placed  me  by  the  table  to  show  and  explain  the 
method.  Mrs.  John  Jacob  Astor  was  thus  convinced  and 
promised  aid.  Others  did  the  same.  And  thus  my  father 
was  able  to  get  the  first  orthopaedic  hospital  started. 

The  suffering  of  his  own  child  gave  him  such  sym 
pathy  for  others  that  he  opened  the  door  of  help  to 
the  afflicted  ones. 

He  further  aided  a  movement  to  provide  quarters 
for  lunatics  in  city  hospitals,  and  another  to  secure 
systematic  care  for  dependent  orphans  and  delin 
quent  children,  and  others  to  provide  for  decent  care 
for  vagrants  and  protective  tenement-house  laws. 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         27 

He  was  indeed  "full"  of  good  works.  He  was  also  a 
loyal  and  hopeful  supporter  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  All 
of  these  movements  he  explained  to  Theodore,  Jr., 
for  the  boy  was  his  close  associate  and  often  accom 
panied  him  to  the  meetings  and  missions  where  the 
various  subjects  were  discussed.  Such  a  life  of  help 
fulness,  backed  by  an  earnest  Christian  faith,  could 
not  fail  to  impress  the  son.  It  was  not  to  be  wondered 
that  the  "son"  later  fathered  the  "Progressive"  party 
social  program. 

The  father  died  while  still  in  his  prime  at  forty- 
six;  Theodore  was  only  nineteen.  A  eulogy  at  the 
time  described  him  as  a  "man  of  untiring  energy 
and  of  prodigious  industry,  the  most  valiant  fighter 
of  his  day  for  the  right,  and  the  winner  of  his  fights. 
He  was  a  tireless  helper  of  the  helpless."  A  set  of 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  Union  League  Club  said : 
"His  life  was  a  stirring  summons  to  the  men  of 
wealth,  of  culture,  and  of  leisure  in  the  community 
to  a  more  active  participation  in  public  affairs." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  said  that  his  mother  was  "a  sweet, 
gracious,  beautiful  Southern  woman,  a  delightful 
companion  and  beloved  by  everybody.  She  was  en 
tirely  'unreconstructed'  to  the  day  of  her  death."  She 
was  never  reconciled  to  the  defeat  of  the  Confed 
eracy. 

Her  father's  house  was  in  the  line  of  Sherman's 
march  to  the  sea,  and  everything  portable  was  car 
ried  away.  While  he  was  in  the  White  House  an  old 
soldier  sent  Mr.  Roosevelt  a  book  which  had  been 
taken  from  the  grandfather's  library  during  that 
raid. 


28  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Theodore  early  understood  the  divided  loyalty  in 
his  home  during  the  Civil  War  and  recalled  a  time 
when  he  aroused  his  mother  by  praying  for  the  suc 
cess  of  the  Union.  He  describes  the  incident  when 
"I  attempted  a  partial  vengeance  by  praying  with 
loud  fervor  for  the  success  of  the  Union  armies  when 
we  all  came  to  say  our  prayers  before  my  mother  in 
the  evening."  His  mother,  while  loyal  to  the  cause, 
also  had  a  strong  sense  of  humor  and  did  not  punish 
him,  but  warned  him  that  the  next  time  his  father 
would  be  informed  and  that  meant  serious  punish 
ment;  he  did  not  repeat  the  offense.  The  "father" 
felt  keenly  his  wife's  attitude  but  was  lovingly  pa 
tient  about  it  and  illustrated  to  his  children  the 
possibility  of  harmony  amidst  diverse  views. 

The  old-fashioned  home  out  of  which  have  come  the 
stalwart  soldiers  of  righteousness  and  the  prophetic 
leaders  in  America  had  in  it  a  definite  worship  of  a 
personal  God.  The  modern  home  without  a  vital 
religion  in  it  is  much  less  influential  than  the  old 
kind,  even  if  its  theological  conceptions  were  some 
what  crude. 

Mrs.  Robinson  in  a  happy  interview  described  the 
joyful  "family  prayer"  hour  which  was  observed : 

Father  always  had  family  prayer  just  before  breakfast 
every  morning.  It  was  a  joy  to  us  all  and  never  a  burden. 
He  would  call  cheerily,  "Come  to  prayers."  Each  one  of 
the  children  would  then  endeavor  to  be  the  first  one  to  call 
out,  "I  speak  for  you  and  the  cubby  hole  too."  The  first 
one  to  call  this  secured  the  seat  of  honor,  which  was  lo 
cated  between  the  head  of  the  old-fashioned  sofa  and 
father.  Here  he  or  she  sat  while  he  read  the  morning  les 
son  from  the  Bible.  He  had  a  religion  of  brightness  and 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         29 

gayety.  It  gave  cheer.  It  was  never  black  nor  did  it  have 
any  sympathy  with  depressing  and  fearful  forebodings.  In 
fact,  father  attended  Dr.  Adams'  church  in  the  early  days 
because  he  preached  a  God  of  love;  he  talked  much  about 
heaven  and  omitted  the  current  doctrine  of  hell.  He  de 
scribed  a  Christ  who  came  to  make  mankind  happy.  God 
was  very  real  and  near  to  my  father. 

The  spiritual  life  was  a  very  normal  thing  in  this 
home.  Bible-reading  was  a  regular  and  reverential 
practice.  Religious  questions  were  treated  as  any 
others  that  might  come  up.  Even  a  Sunday  school 
could  be  held  while  on  a  "tramp,"  as  is  shown  by  a 
reference  in  Theodore's  diary  quoted  by  Mr.  Hage- 
dorn  while  touring  Europe  and  during  a  stop  in 
Vienna:  "Then  papa  and  I  went  for  a  long  roam 
through  the  woods  and  had  Sunday  school  in  them. 
I  drew  a  church  and  I  am  now  going  to  bed." 

W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  told  me  that  this  intelligent 
interest  in  the  Bible  began  with  Theodore's  grand 
father  : 

I  can  vividly  remember  our  (Theodore's  and  my)  grand 
father.  He  too  had  retired  from  business.  In  his  later 
years  he  did  not  attend  church  very  regularly  but  spent 
much  time  in  his  room  alone  with  the  Bible.  He  would 
talk  with  various  types  of  people  about  Scripture  passages. 
He  read  religious  papers  and  was  constantly  studying  re 
ligion  in  its  broader  aspects. 

Theodore'tj  father  made  it  a  practice  to  set  apart 
one  day  every  week  to  be  spent  in  visiting  and  cheer 
ing  the  poor  and  less  fortunate.  He  would  normally 
allow  no  day  to  pass  without  some  act  of  kindness 
to  his  credit.  He  withdrew  more  and  more  from 


30  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

business  until  he  was  entirely  out  of  it  so  that  he 
could  and  did  give  all  of  his  time  to  helping  folks. 
Theodore  said  of  his  father : 

I  remember  seeing  him  going  down  Broadway,  staid  and 
respectable  business  man  as  he  was,  with  a  poor  little  sick 
kitten  in  his  pocket,  a  waif  which  he  had  picked  up  in  the 
street 

Mrs.  Robinson  told  me  about  her  father's  success 
in  distributing  tracts : 

My  father  took  great  satisfaction  in  circulating  tracts 
or  pamphlets  on  religious  subjects.  They  were  much  in 
vogue  in  that  day.  He  would  follow  them  up.  I  recall  a 
case  where  he  persuaded  a  boy  to  read  one  of  these  tracts. 
He  then  followed  it  up  with  a  call  on  the  boy,  who  lived  in 
an  obscure  tenement  house.  Father  saw  that  the  boy  had 
read  the  tract  to  his  mother.  He  then  talked  with  the 
family  about  religion  and  persuaded  the  whole  family  to 
attend  church,  and  they  became  regular  too. 

The  animal  spirits  of  childhood  were  guided,  not 
suppressed,  and  so  goodness  was  nurtured  by  a  happy 
home  life.  In  the  winter  time  the  Roosevelt  family 
lived  at  28  East  Twentieth  Street.  The  old  home  is 
now  being  restored  to  its  original  condition  by  an 
organization  of  patriotic  women.  In  the  summer  the 
whole  family  went  to  the  country,  where  they  had  as 
pets  cats,  dogs,  rabbits,  a  raccoon,  and  a  Shetland 
pony  called  "General  Grant,"  for  whom  the  Presi 
dent's  children  thirty  years  afterward  named  their 
pony.  On  Christmas  Eve  each  child  borrowed  the 
largest  stocking  in  the  house  and  hung  it  near  the 
chimney.  Early  next  morning  they  trooped  into 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         31 

their  parents7  room  and  emptied  their  stockings  on 
the  bed.  After  breakfast  the  larger  presents  were 
viewed  in  the  drawing  room.  Mr.  Roosevelt  once 
said,  "I  never  knew  anyone  else  have  what  seemed  to 
me  such  attractive  Christmases,  and  in  the  next  gen 
eration  I  tried  to  reproduce  them  exactly  for  my 
own  children." 

It  was  the  product  of  a  real  Christian  home. 

Dr.  Ludlow  related  an  incident  which  explains 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  early  interest  in  the  Police  Depart 
ment,  and  which  enforces  the  fact  that  he  early  found 
the  representatives  of  religion  congenial : 

Theodore  frequently  visited  me  in  my  study.  One  morn 
ing,  when  he  was  about  sixteen,  a  woman  asked  me  to  call 
on  her  dying  mother.  When  I  proposed  going  immediately, 
she  urged  delay  until  three  p.  M.  That  aroused  suspicion 
that  there  was  a  frame-up  to  blackmail  me,  and  so  I  asked 
Theodore  if  he  would  accompany  me,  and  we  made  the 
call  at  once.  There  was  no  sickness.  The  people  were 
crooked  and  hoped  to  extort  money.  When  Theodore 
learned  this  fact,  he  said,  "I  wish  I  were  a  policeman,  so 
that  I  could  hit  this."  While  President  he  told  Governor 
Fort  that  this  first  gave  him  a  desire  to  enter  the  Police 
Department,  which  bore  full  fruit  when  he  accepted  the 
commissionership.  Even  as  a  boy  he  was  tremendously 
energetic  when  answering  a  call  of  duty. 

It  is  related  that  Theodore's  father  was  once  con 
gratulated  by  his  pastor  upon  the  meaning  of  his 
son's  name — "gift  of  God."  "Suppose  we  change  it 
a  little,  and  call  it  a  gift  to  God?"  said  the  father. 
He  accepted  fatherhood  as  a  serious  responsibility. 

Mrs.  Robinson  recalled  for  me  the  home  customs 
which  gave  religious  training  to  the  children: 


32  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Each  child  bowed  at  mother's  knee  to  say  the  "Now  I 
lay  me"  prayer  and  the  "Our  Father."  My  grandmother 
Bulloch  was  also  at  our  house  during  a  part  of  our  child 
hood  and  joined  "Aunt  Gracey"  in  giving  us  religious  train 
ing.  Aunt  Gracey  started  to  teach  Theodore  his  letters  at 
three  years  of  age  and  at  the  same  time  led  him  to  begin 
memorizing  hymns  and  psalms.  Our  father  went  farther 
and  taught  us  the  meaning  of  various  verses  in  the  Bible. 
At  the  five  o'clock  Sunday  hour  [detailed  in  another  chap 
ter]  we  described  the  sermon  we  had  heard  in  the  morning. 
This  helped  us  to  listen  for  the  purpose  of  repeating,  to 
seek  the  best  method  of  expression,  and  to  love  the  Bible. 
We  each  read  aloud  out  of  our  own  Bible.  What  our  father 
there  taught  us  was  worked  into  our  life  afterward. 


The  first  notable  book  which  impressed  and  in 
fluenced  Theodore  as  a  little  lad  was  Livingstone's 
Missionary  Travels  and  Researches  in  South  Africa. 
This  account  of  the  courageous  apostle  of  Christ 
who  was  a  naturalist  and  a  missionary  and  explorer 
in  Africa,  and  who  was  found  by  Henry  M.  Stanley, 
and  who  later  died  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Bangweolo, 
having  slipped  away  while  on  his  knees  in  prayer, 
awakened  Theodore's  imagination  and  lifted  his 
ideals.  His  sisters  delighted  in  telling  how  he  went 
about  carrying  a  big  volume  of  Livingstone's  works, 
asking  everyone  he  met  to  explain  to  him  about 
"foraging  ants."  Finally  the  little  fellow  attracted 
attention,  and  they  found  that  Livingstone  had  re 
ferred  merely  to  "foregoing  ants." 

He  evidently  was  guided  in  his  reading,  for  he 
paid  high  praise  to  the  influence  of  a  certain  periodi 
cal  called  "Our  Young  Folks,"  which  he  said  "in 
stilled  the  individual  virtues"  and  enforced  the  fact 


THEODORE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         33 

that  "character"  was  the  chief  requisite  for  success. 
He  then  affirmed  that  all  the  modern  moralizations 
and  the  wisdom  of  men  could  not  change  this  fact, 
for  a  worthy  citizen,  above  everything  else,  must 
have  the  right  traits  in  himself,  such  as  "self-reli- 
ance,  energy,  courage,  the  power  of  insisting  on  his 
own  rights,  and  the  sympathy  which  makes  him 
regardful  of  the  rights  of  others."  This,  he  said,  he 
was  taught  by  his  reading  at  home  and  at  Harvard. 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  Sr.,  regularly  attended,  during  the 
holiday  season,  a  dinner  at  the  Newsboys'  Lodging 
House  and  often  Miss  Sattery's  Night  School  for 
Little  Italians.  He  took  Theodore  and  the  other 
children  to  these  meetings  and  to  various  Christian 
missions,  and  required  them  to  help  in  a  hearty  way 
that  might  remove  any  air  of  superiority.  These 
associations  gave  them  an  intimate  view  of  the  poor, 
which,  when  added  to  their  knowledge  of  the  rich, 
gave  them  breadth. 

Theodore's  father  always  taught  a  class  in  a  mis 
sion  Sunday  school.  On  the  way  to  this  work  he 
would  stop  and  leave  his  own  children  at  the  Sunday 
school  connected  with  Dr.  Adams'  Presbyterian 
Church  on  Madison  Square.  Afterward  this  church 
had  as  pastor  the  vigorous  opponent  of  Tammany, 
Dr.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst. 

Roosevelt  gave  his  father's  example  as  the  occasion 
for  his  own  activity  as  a  Sunday-school  teacher  in 
a  Mission  where  he  worked  for  three  years  until  go 
ing  to  Harvard.  In  Cambridge  he  first  taught  a 
class  in  an  Episcopal  and  then  in  a  Congregational 
school.  He  declared,  "I  do  not  think  I  made  much  of 


34  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

a  success  of  the  7  years  work."  But  this  he  admitted 
was  disproved  when  he  recognized  a  Taxi  driver  as 
a  former  member  of  his  class  who  informed  him  that 
he  "was  an  ardent  Bull  Mooser." 

Piety  and  activity  in  the  church  during  the  days  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  youth  were  only  expected  of  the  ef 
feminate  or  those  anticipating  an  early  death.  He 
probably  noticed  this  feeling,  for  he  remembered 
the  conditions  then  prevalent  as  late  as  1900,  when 
he  explained  that  it  was  uncommon  for  college  men 
in  his  day  to  teach  a  Sunday-school  class.  They  also 
looked  down  upon  one  who  did,  so  he  determined  to 
offset  this  false  estimate  by  being  a  "corking"  boxer, 
a  good  runner,  and  a  genial  member  of  the  Porcelain 
Club.  He  affirmed  that  while  he  enjoyed  them  as 
sports,  yet  his  deepest  purpose  was  to  be  so  furnished 
that  no  one  should  "laugh  at  me  with  impunity  be 
cause  I  was  decent." 

Jacob  A.  Riis  relates  that  one  Sunday  while  at 
Harvard  Theodore  noticed  that  a  boy  in  his  Sunday- 
school  class  had  a  black  eye.  On  inquiring  he  found 
that  the  lad  had  received  it  in  giving  punishment  to 
a  boy  who  had  been  ugly  to  his  sister.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
commended  him  and  gave  him  a  dollar  bill  as  a  re 
ward.  The  minister  of  the  church  reproved  the 
teacher  for  thus  encouraging  fighting  and  asked  for 
his  resignation.  He  acquiesced,  but,  like  a  good 
soldier  and  unlike  some  weak  slackers  in  church  work 
who  would  have  relaxed  into  idleness  with  "hurt" 
feelings,  Theodore  went  to  another  church  and  there 
asked  for  and  taught  another  class. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  put  high  value  on  the  training  he 


THEODOKE'S  CHILDHOOD  HOME         35 

received  in  his  own  home,  for  he  affirmed,  "I  left 
college  and  entered  the  big  world,  owing  more  than 
I  can  express  to  the  training  I  had  received,  espe 
cially  in  my  home." 

Mr.  Thayer,  who  was  his  schoolmate  and  close 
friend  at  Harvard  and  later  his  biographer,  also 
testified  to  the  moral  stability  thus  insured : 

The  quiet  but  firm  teaching  of  his  parents  bore  fruit  in 
him;  he  came  to  college  with  a  body  of  rational  moral 
principles  which  he  made  no  parade  of,  but  obeyed  in 
stinctively.  And  so,  where  many  young  fellows  are  thrown 
off  their  balance  on  first  acquiring  the  freedom  which  col 
lege  life  gives  or  are  dazed  and  distracted  on  first  hearing 
the  babel  of  strange  philosophies  or  novel  doctrines,  he 
walked  straight,  held  himself  erect,  and  was  not  fooled 
into  mistaking  novelty  for  truth,  or  libertinism  for  man 
liness. 

Dean  Lewis  wrote  me :  "Unquestionably  his  adult 
ideals  were  essentially  the  ideals  of  his  mother  and 
father." 

Dr.  Alexander  Lambert,  who  while  his  physician 
for  twenty  years  was  also  his  intimate  friend,  and 
who  himself  is  a  member  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church,  New  York,  said  to  me: 

Theodore  received  his  ideals  from  his  father,  who  was  a 
deeply  religious  man.  His  father  transmitted  to  him  the 
full  Christian  doctrine  of  righteousness,  and  Theodore 
followed  it  through  his  whole  life  in  word  and  deed. 

Mrs.  Robinson  affirmed  her  father  to  be  an  in 
spired  man  in  his  influence  on  Theodore: 

My  father  was  more  than  a  religious  man,  he  was  an  in- 


36  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

spired  man.  He  gave  my  brother  all  the  big  things  of  his 
character  and  added  to  that  the  inculcation  of  a  patient 
persistency  built  on  absolute  confidence  in  the  outcome. 

In  an  address  at  the  old  home  site  she  said : 

When  this  home  has  been  restored  I  will  place  in  the 
bedroom  the  suite  which  my  father  and  mother  used.  Into 
this  room  my  brother  came  every  night  to  say  his  prayers 
at  my  mother's  knee. 

Then  she  added :  "Those  of  you  who  have  helped  to 
restore  this  home  will  some  day  be  as  proud  of  it  as 
were  those  in  later  years  who  helped  restore  Mount 
Vernon." 

Why  will  they  be  proud  ?  Because  it  is  to  be  made 
a  center  of  Americanization  work.  That  will  nat 
urally  lead  to  recollections  of  the  methods  employed 
to  build  this  towering  American.  Then  they  must 
remember  that  those  methods  were  inseparably 
wrapped  up  in  a  Christian  home,  and  that  every 
night  the  boy  came  into  the  bedroom  to  say  his 
prayers  at  his  mother's  knee,  and  that  every  morning 
the  family  gathered  for  "prayers,"  and  that  the 
Bible  and  church  attendance  were  never  neglected  in 
that  household. 

Religious  education  is  indispensable  to  the  build 
ing  of  such  Americans  as  Theodore  Roosevelt. 


CHAPTER  II 
HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME 

"I  ask  you  men  and  women  to  act  in  all  relations  of 
life  ...  as  you  hope  to  see  your  sons  and  daughters  act 
if  you  have  brought  them  up  rightly." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 


For  I  know  him  that  he  will  command  his  children  and 
his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of 
the  Lord. — Gen.  18.  19. 

MB.  ROOSEVELT'S  Letters  to  His  Children 
alone  present  conclusive  evidence  of  an  ideal 
and  Christian  home  life.     The  Rev.  C.  L. 
Slattery,  D.D.,  rector  of  Grace  Church,  New  York, 
says : 

These  letters  reveal  a  beautiful  picture  of  American 
family  life  at  its  best.  For  parents  who  think  themselves 
too  busy  (chiefly  with  their  own  pleasure)  to  give  any 
special  attention  to  their  children,  delegating  them  unin 
terruptedly  to  nurses,  governesses,  and  schoolmasters,  it 
must  be  startling  to  read  what  the  most  active  President 
of  the  United  States  was  able  to  do  for  and  with  his  chil 
dren  while  he  lived  in  the  White  House. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  rear  his  children  amidst 
soft  splendor  but  in  the  atmosphere  of  Christian  sim 
plicity  and  sturdy  hardihood.  This  furnished  a  good 
foundation  for  a  sane  religious  training.  The 
house  in  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  lived  stood  on  a  hill 

37 


38  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

near  Oyster  Bay  overlooking  Long  Island  Sound, 
and  was  surrounded  by  a  farm  of  eighty  acres. 
The  trees  were  cleared  in  front  of  the  house, 
thus  giving  a  fine  view  of  the  water,  while 
they  were  otherwise  thick  enough  to  shut  off 
neighboring  houses  and  thus  give  privacy.  Through 
out  the  interior  easy-chairs  and  couches  invited  re 
pose.  The  large  living  room  was  filled  with  trophies 
of  his  hunting  trips.  No  worry  or  friction  disturbed 
the  restfulness  of  its  harmony.  He  broke  the  mo 
notony  and  kept  his  body  sturdy  by  long  rides  on  the 
country  roads,  chopped  trees,  or  tramped  through 
woods,  or  raced  or  romped  with  the  children  in  the 
cleared  space.  While  never  a  rich  man,  yet  his  in 
come  in  later  life  would  easily  have  secured  a  more 
imposing  and  commodious  house  and  grounds;  but 
he  made  few  changes.  He  early  found  the  secret  of 
contentment  in  simplicity  of  life,  and  that  added  to 
a  household  in  which  pure  love  and  sympathy 
reigned  while  God  was  worshiped  and  reverenced, 
made  a  very  happy  home. 

When  he  came  into  the  White  House,  Mr.  Roose- 
velt  warned  the  newspaper  men  that  they  must  not 
infringe  on  the  privacy  of  his  home  by  mentioning 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  or  any  intimate  home  details  in  their 
articles.  The  correspondent  not  observing  this  re 
quest  was  told  that  he  would  not  receive  any  of  the 
President's  communications  nor  would  he  or  any 
other  representative  of  that  paper  be  allowed  in  the 
White  House.  His  family  thus  escaped  an  exasperat 
ing  newspaper  notoriety,  which  has  spoiled  so  many 
children. 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  39 

One  daily  paper  broke  this  rule  in  a  most  irritating 
manner.  It  is  reported  that  the  Roosevelt  children 
had  amused  themselves  by  chasing  a  turkey  over  the 
White  House  grounds  with  a  hatchet  and  finally 
killed  it.  The  story  was  doubtless  fathered  by  one' 
of  his  enemies  who  hoped  to  picture  the  episode  as 
a  natural  outcome  of  electing  a  President  with  a 
Wild  West  record.  The  President  was  furious  at 
the  implication  that  he  could  be  such  a  cruel  father 
and  poor  sportsman  as  to  teach  or  permit  his  chil 
dren  to  enjoy  such  a  barbarous  pastime.  The  re 
porter  who  invented  the  tale  and  all  other  repre 
sentatives  of  that  paper  were  permanently  shut  out 
from  the  White  House. 

The  warm  and  delightful  home  life  experienced  by 
Mr.  Roosevelt  is  only  possible  where  Christ's  rules 
are  followed.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  an  ideal  home- 
maker,  markedly  domestic,  and  notably  religious. 
She  was  a  woman  of  rare  judgment,  whose  advice 
her  husband  sought  and  usually  followed.  He  once 
said  to  Mr.  Stoddard:  "When  I  go  against  Mrs. 
Roosevelt's  judgment,  I  usually  go  wrong.  You 
know  I  never  make  an  important  move  without  first 
consulting  her." 

Writing  Kermit  in  November,  1904,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
recounted  the  fact  that  he  was  very  "proud  and 
happy"  over  the  "day  of  greatest  triumph  I  ever  had," 
which  referred  to  his  election  as  President.  He  then 
explains  his  satisfaction  that  during  the  time  when 
his  election  seemed  in  doubt  he  was  comforted  by 
the  fact  that  "the  really  important  thing  was  the 
lovely  life  I  have  with  mother  and  you  children, 


40  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

and  that  compared  to  this  home  life  everything  else 
was  of  very  small  importance  from  the  standpoint 
of  happiness." 

He  steadily  hoped  that  the  day  might  come  when 
public  duties  would  allow  him  to  enjoy  his  home  un 
disturbed.  In  1910  when  some  charged  that  he 
craved  the  limelight  he  wrote  William  Allen  White 
that  he  craved  the  quiet  of  his  home  where  he  had 
just  spent  five  of  the  happiest  weeks  he  had  enjoyed 
in  many  years  in  the  companionship  of  Mrs.  Roose 
velt.  He  had  relished  "our  books  and  pictures  and 
bronzes  and  big  wood  fires  and  horses  to  ride/'  and 
the  assurance  that  "the  children  are  doing  well." 

A  very  intimate  friend  of  the  family  described  to 
me  the  happiness  prevalent  in  the  inner  circle : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  invited  a  great  many  people  to  dine  with 
him,  hut  few  were  really  brought  into  the  inner  circle. 
There  was  a  clearly  denned  line  between  the  two.  In  the 
"family"  gatherings  there  was  an  exuberance  of  joy  and 
fellowship  hard  to  describe.  Only  a  selected  number  of 
very  intimate  friends  ever  entered  into  it. 

Mr.  Valkenburg,  in  an  editorial  said : 

The  Colonel's  relations  with  his  family  were  what  one 
would  expect  in  a  man  against  whom  his  bitterest  enemies 
(and  he  had  many)  never  breathed  the  slightest  kind  of 
scandal.  Those  who  knew  him  best  were  wont  to  declare 
that  he  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  were  lovers  ever,  and  both  were 
the  chums  and  confidants  of  their  children.  With  his  grand 
children,  Colonel  Roosevelt  confessed  that  he  was  "as  big 
a  fool  as  any  other  American  grandfather."  He  would 
leave  a  conference  to  play  with  little  Richard  Derby,  son 
of  his  daughter  Ethel,  or  to  dandle  Ted  the  Third  on  his 
knee. 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  41 

Mrs.  Clinton,  who  for  many  months  was  his  sec 
retary,  and  lived  in  the  Oyster  Bay  home,  writes 
that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  were  very  thoughtful 
and  considerate  of  everyone  and  of  each  other. 
Their  home  life  was  ideal,  not  a  single  jar  occurring 
while  she  lived  with  them.  She  ate  at  the  table  regu 
larly  with  them  and  was  treated  like  one  of  the 
family.  Continuing,  she  says : 

Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  were  in  the  habit  of  taking 
a  "constitutional"  early  every  morning,  walking  around 
the  wide  veranda  arm  in  arm,  rain  or  shine,  as  merry  as 
two  children.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  always  gentlemanly. 
I  never  heard  him  use  a  harsh  or  vulgar  word.  He  was 
particularly  fond  of  his  children,  and  would  stop  in  the 
midst  of  dictation  every  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  and 
leave  the  room,  after  which  strange  noises  proceeded  from 
the  nursery.  He  was  playing  bear  with  baby  Quentin  on 
the  bed. — Personal  Memoirs  of  the  Home  Life  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Cheney,  p.  143. 

Such  a  home  gave  the  children  confidence  in  the 
teaching  of  the  parents,  and  created  an  atmosphere 
which  nourished  religious  truths  into  healthy 
growth. 

In  his  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  lectures  Mr. 
Roosevelt  warns  people  that  there  is  no  substitute 
for  home  life: 

Nothing  else  .  .  .  can  take  the  place  of  family  life,  and 
family  life  cannot  be  really  happy  unless  it  is  based  on 
duty,  based  on  recognition  of  the  great  underlying  laws  of 
religion  and  morality. 

Continuing,  he  said : 

Multiplication  of  divorces  means  that  there  is  something 


42  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

rotten  in  the  community,  that  there  is  some  principle  of 
evil  at  work  which  must  be  counteracted  and  overcome  or 
widespread  disaster  will  follow. 

He  never  lost  the  old-fashioned  and  safe  standards 
taught  by  the  church. 

In  a  letter  to  Kermit  Mr.  Roosevelt  describes  their 
home  life.  He  notes  the  fact  that  he  had  "people 
in  to  lunch,"  but  that  at  dinner  the  family  was 
usually  alone.  Callers  are  welcomed  in  the  evening, 
though  "I  generally  have  an  hour  in  which  to  sit 
with  mother  and  the  others  up  in  the  library,  talking 
and  reading  and  watching  the  bright  wood  fire." 
The  four  children,  Ted,  Archie,  Ethel,  and  Quentin, 
in  accordance  with  long  practice,  "are  generally  in 
mother's  room  for  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour 
just  before  she  dresses." 

In  the  busiest  period  of  his  life  he  allotted  at 
least  one  half  hour  a  day  to  his  children  with  fre 
quent  picnics  and  play  times  of  longer  duration.  He 
believed  that  in  a  Christian  home  the  father  had 
home  duties  just  as  binding  as  those  of  the  mother, 
and  so  in  his  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  lectures 
he  said  of  the  man  in  the  household : 

We  continually  speak — and  it  is  perfectly  proper  that  we 
should — of  the  enormous  importance  of  the  woman's  work 
in  the  home.  It  is  more  important  than  the  man's.  She 
does  play  a  greater  part.  But  the  man  is  not  to  be  excused 
if  he  fails  to  recognize  that  his  work  in  the  home,  in  help 
ing  bring  up,  as  well  as  provide  for  the  children,  is  also  one 
of  his  primary  functions. 

A  little  later  he  condemns  a  too  widely  current  cus 
tom  of  pampering  children : 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  43 

Too  often,  among  hard-working  friends  of  mine,  I  have 
known  a  woman  to  say,  "I've  had  to  work  hard  all  my  life, 
and  my  daughter  shall  be  brought  up  as  a  lady" — meaning, 
poor  soul,  that  the  daughter  shall  be  brought  up  to  be 
utterly  worthless  to  herself  and  everyone  else. 

He  literally  practiced  what  he  preached.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  his  son  Theodore  carried  a  din 
ner  pail  and  worked  in  a  mill  for  a  year.  He  was  not 
turning  out  hothouse  products  but  worthy  citizens. 
The  same  hardy  biblical  rules  were  applied  to  the 
daughter.  Mr.  W.  H.  Crook,  White  House  attache 
for  many  years,  describes  the  occasion  when  Miss 
Ethel  was  introduced  to  society  in  Washington.  He 
recalls  the  fact  that  the  daughter  had  been  brought 
up  in  a  simple  and  natural  way  at  Sagamore  Hill, 
where  she  had  been  the  close  associate  of  "two  enter 
prising  young  brothers  and  as  closely  the  comrade  of 
father  and  mother."  While  she  had  mastered  three 
modern  languages  and  was  well  trained  mentally 
as  well  as  being  a  finished  pianist,  she  was  at  the 
same  time  taught  in  the  "art  of  housekeeping  and 
home-making  by  that  best  of  all  teachers,  a  com 
petent  mother." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  wife,  who  was  Miss 
Edith  Kermit  Carow,  had  been  childhood  playmates 
and  neighbors.  Her  great-grandfather,  Benjamin 
Lee,  was  an  Englishman  who  served  in  the  British 
navy  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  On  one  occasion, 
because  he  disobeyed  orders  which  he  thought  unjust 
to  the  prisoners  in  his  care,  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
shot.  His  life  was  spared  through  the  influence  of 
a  fellow  officer,  afterward  William  IV  of  Great 


44  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Britain.  Later  he  made  the  United  States  his  home 
land  and  rose  to  be  a  captain  in  our  navy.  Another 
great-grandfather  fought  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  also  a  descendant  of 
Jonathan  Edwards,  the  great  preacher.  She  in 
herited  a  spiritual  nature  which,  with  her  warrior 
blood,  qualified  her  to  be  a  good  comrade  to  her 
courageous  "preacher"  and  "moral  reformer"  hus 
band. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  backward  in  developing 
and  expressing  affection  but  employed  it  with  his 
dear  ones  by  kiss  and  caress  and  written  word.  In 
a  letter  to  Ethel  which  he  addressed  as  "Blessedest 
Ethely-Bye"  he  affirmed  that  Kermit  thought  him  "a 
little  soft  because  I  am  so  eagerly  looking  forward 
to  the  end  when  I  shall  see  darling  pretty  mother, 
my  own  sweetheart,  and  the  very  nicest  of  all  nice 
daughters,  you  blessed  girlie."  He  might  dictate  the 
weekly  letter  to  his  children  while  getting  shaved, 
but  every  letter  which  went  to  his  wife  was  written 
with  his  own  hand.  He  was  always  determined  to 
do  his  part  to  keep  affection's  fires  burning. 

Mr.  Bishop  told  me  that  after  Quentin's  death  Mr. 
Roosevelt  avoided  the  name  of  Quentin  in  all  con 
versation,  for  when  it  was  mentioned  this  tender 
hearted  father  would  break  down  and  weep.  It  is 
reliably  reported  that  the  morning  after  Quentin's 
death  an  old  servant  went  to  the  barn  and  found  Mr. 
Roosevelt  in  tears  with  his  arms  around  the  neck  of 
the  pony  his  children  had  ridden. 

He  noticed  and  was  interested  in  household  affairs. 
One  day  he  watches  Mrs.  Roosevelt  putting  the  covers 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  45 

on  the  house  furnishings  and  scattering  moth  balls 
preparatory  to  leaving  the  Oyster  Bay  house  for  the 
winter  and  writes  Kermit  telling  him  that  "Ethel 
and  I  insist  that  she  now  eyes  us  both  with  a  pro 
fessional  gaze  and  secretly  wishes  she  could  wrap 
us  in  a  neatly  pinned  sheet  with  camphor  balls." 

He  had  the  Christian  ideal  of  womanhood.  He 
was  always  a  little  afraid  that  the  Suffrage  move 
ment,  which  he  favored,  not  as  the  moral  panacea  so 
many  proclaimed  it  to  be  but  as  an  inherent  right 
belonging  to  women,  would  lead  women  away  from 
their  unique  sphere. 

In  a  letter  written  in  1908  he  affirmed  that  "the 
indispensable  field  for  the  usefulness  of  woman  is 
as  the  mother  of  the  family."  He  affirmed  "that  her 
work  in  bearing  and  rearing  the  children"  was  more 
important  than  any  man's  work,  and  it  was  her  nor 
mal  special  work  just  as  it  was  the  man's  special 
work  to  be  the  bread-winner  and  the  "soldier  who 
will  fight  for  the  home." 

Men  engaged  in  strenuous  duties  and  away  from 
home  all  day  are  prone  to  depreciate  the  strain  and 
constant  toil  which  is  incumbent  on  the  mother  at 
home.  In  an  address  on  "The  Dignity  of  Labor" 
Mr.  Roosevelt  said : 

The  woman  who  has  borne  and  has  reared  as  they  should 
be  reared  a  family  of  children  has  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner  deserved  well  of  the  republic.  Her  burden  has 
been  heavy,  and  she  has  been  able  to  bear  it  worthily  only 
by  the  possession  of  resolution,  of  good  sense,  of  conscience, 
and  of  unselfishness;  but  if  she  has  borne  it  well,  then  to 
her  shall  come  the  supreme  blessing,  for  in  the  words  of 


46  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

the  oldest  and  greatest  of  books,  "Her  children  shall  rise 
up  and  call  her  blessed."1 

Mr.  Loeb  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  in 
no  circumstances  would  Mr.  Roosevelt  pardon  a  wife 
beater  or  wife  murderer.  He  warmly  commends  a 
very  drastic  bill  enacted  in  England  for  the  punish 
ment  of  those  engaged  in  the  white  slave  traffic.  He 
congratulated  Mr.  White,  sponsor  of  the  bill,  for  its 
drastic  penalties  which  provided  "for  the  flogging 
of  male  offenders."  Referring  to  the  fact  that  the 
bill  had  frightened  the  slavers  out  of  England,  he 
says  that  this  was  because  "their  skin  is  the  only  un- 
hardened  thing"  about  them. 

He  was  always  righteously  indignant  against  race 
suicide  and  declares  in  his  Pacific  Theological  School 
Lectures,  "If  you  do  not  believe  in  your  own  stock 
enough  to  wish  to  see  the  stock  kept  up,  then  you  are 
not  good  Americans."  In  his  letter  to  George  Tre- 
velyan  he  tells  how  much  he  was  saddened  to  find  an 
ugly  Socialist  tract  in  Sweden  containing  "an  elabo 
rate  appeal  to  stop  having  children;  the  Socialists 
being  so  bitter  in  their  class  hatred  as  to  welcome 
race  destruction  as  a  means  of  slacking  it."  This 
he  accounted  a  heathen  doctrine. 

Mrs.  Roosevelt,  in  her  quiet  and  yet  effective  way, 
mothered  Mr.  Roosevelt  more  than  most  people  knew. 
Major  Putnam  related  an  incident  to  me  which 
doubtless  revealed  her  habits  as  a  solicitous  wife : 

I  was  at  Oyster  Bay  for  lunch  a  short  time  before  Theo 
dore  started  on  his  African  trip  and  remarked  to  Mrs. 


*A  Square  Deal,  p.  22.    Reprinted  by  permission  of  M.  A.  Donahue  &  Co., 
Chicago. 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  47 

Roosevelt,  "I  suppose  you  are  somewhat  anxious  about  Mr. 
Roosevelt  traveling  among  man-eating  lions."  She  replied, 
"I  do  not  doubt  that  Theodore  can  manage  the  lions,  but 
I  am  afraid  of  the  fevers,  he  is  so  careless." 

The  children  of  Mr.  Koosevelt's  household  were 
given  careful  religious  instruction  and  training  but 
were  at  the  same  time  taught  to  be  self-reliant.  So 
he  says  of  his  offspring : 

I  do  not  want  anyone  to  believe  that  my  little  ones  are 
brought  up  to  be  cowards  in  this  house.  If  they  are  struck, 
they  are  not  taught  to  turn  the  other  cheek.  I  haven't  any 
use  for  weaklings.  I  commend  gentleness  and  manliness. 
I  want  my  boys  to  be  strong  and  gentle.  For  all  my  chil 
dren  I  pray  that  they  may  be  healthy  and  natural. 

Theodore  Jr.  tells  of  a  time  when  he  took  too 
literally  instructions  concerning  self-protection  and 
assaulted  his  little  brother,  in  line  with  "father's 
instructions  to  fight  anyone  who  insulted  me." 
When  Theodore  Jr.'s  mother,  hearing  howls  in  the 
nursery,  came  up  and  found  Kermit  screaming  tear 
fully,  Theodore  Jr.  tells  us,  "I  told  her  that  he  had 
insulted  me  by  taking  away  some  of  my  blocks,  so  I 
had  hit  him  on  the  head  with  a  mechanical  rabbit." 

In  an  address  on  parenthood  he  enforced  the  im 
portance  of  home  influences: 

Some  children  will  go  wrong  in  spite  of  the  best  train 
ing,  and  some  will  go  right  even  where  their  surroundings 
are  most  unfortunate.  Nevertheless,  an  immense  amount 
depends  upon  the  family  training. 

In  speaking  of  the  fact  that  all  four  of  his  boys 


48  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

had  enlisted,  he  declared,  "You  cannot  bring  up  boys 
to  be  eagles  and  expect  them  to  act  like  sparrows." 

Mr.  Bishop  told  the  writer  that  one  day,  while  en 
gaged  in  collecting  and  editing  Mr.  Roosevelt's  let 
ters,  he  called  on  him  at  the  hospital,  and  showing 
him  two  or  three  letters  which  he  had  written  to  his 
children,  suggested  that  a  special  book  be  published 
containing  these  letters.  Mr.  Bishop,  continuing, 
said: 

When  I  came  again,  he  had  secured  other  copies  from 
the  children  themselves,  and,  convinced  that  such  a  book 
might  help  the  homes  of  America,  he  decided  to  sacrifice 
his  long-treasured  ideal  of  privacy  for  his  family  and 
publish  them.  He  was  intensely  interested  in  the  selection 
of  the  letters  and  told  me  a  short  time  before  he  died,  "I 
would  rather  have  this  book  published  than  anything  that 
has  ever  been  written  about  me."  Never  a  week  passed, 
during  this  man's  busy  career,  without  every  child  absent 
from  home  receiving  a  letter  from  him. 

The  book  was  issued  under  the  title  Theodore 
Roosevelt's  Letters  to  His  Children,  and  nearly  200,- 
000  copies  were  sold  the  first  year.  To  read  it  is  to 
be  convinced  that  his  home  was  .ideal  because  he 
translated  the  term  "Christian"  into  actuality. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  insisted  that  there  was  just  the 
proper  mixture  of  "freedom  and  control"  for  the 
children  in  his  household.  "They  were  never  al 
lowed  to  be  disobedient  or  to  shirk  lessons  or  work; 
they  were  encouraged  to  have  all  the  fun  possible." 

"Bill"  Sewall  told  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  never 
crowded  his  boys  to  do  things  his  way.  "He  gave 
them  the  truth  and  allowed  them  to  choose  their  own 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  49 

way  of  applying  it."  The  three  families  of  cousins 
lived  close  together  and  Mr.  Koosevelt  tells  us  that 
they  swam,  tramped,  boated,  coasted  and  "skated  in 
winter,  and  were  intimate  friends  with  the  cows, 
chickens,  pigs  and  other  live-stock'7  in  the  summer. 

A  sample  of  a  severe  reprimand  given  one  of  the 
children  is  shown  in  a  letter  to  Archie.  Quentin  and 
three  associates,  including  Charley  Taft,  had  been 
playing  for  five  hours  on  a  rainy  day  in  the  White 
House  and  had  "made  spit  balls  and  deliberately  put 
them  on  the  portraits."  The  President  discovered 
it  after  Quentin  had  retired,  but  pulled  him  out  of 
bed  to  clean  them  all  off  the  pictures.  The  next 
morning  the  four  culprits  were  summoned  and  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said:  "I  explained  that  they  had  acted 
like  boors;  that  it  would  have  been  a  disgrace  to 
have  behaved  so  in  any  gentleman's  house."  Then 
the  President  decreed  that  the  three  associates  of 
Quentin  should  not  come  to  the  house  again,  nor 
any  other  playmate,  until  he  felt  they  had  been  suf 
ficiently  punished,  and  concludes :  "They  were  four 
very  sheepish  small  boys  when  I  got  through  with 
them." 

Mr.  Henry  L.  Stoddard,  the  Editor  of  the  Evening 
Mail,  remarked  to  me : 

I  never  saw  a  more  wonderful  home.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was 
a  genuinely  component  part  of  it.  Everything  of  moment 
was  made  a  family  matter.  The  table  was  like  a  Cabinet 
council.  The  children  were  trusted  to  discuss  the  most 
important  things.  He  revealed  himself  fully  to  his  children. 

The  children  were  encouraged  to  express  them 
selves  fully.  One  day  when  Archie  was  getting  much 


50  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

praise  for  bravery  and  patience  in  sickness,  Quentin, 
then  a  small  lad,  was  impressed  by  a  contrast  he 
saw,  and  said,  "If  only  I  had  Archie's  nature  and 
my  head,  wouldn't  it  be  great?" 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  while  he  was  a  great  athlete,  was 
constantly  sounding  warnings  against  becoming  too 
much  engrossed  in  sports,  and  had  no  place  for  them 
except  as  they  improved  the  physical  condition  and 
so  better  equipped  one  for  service  to  his  fellows.  He 
writes  Kermit  that  he  is  glad  to  learn  that  he  is 
playing  football,  but  "I  do  not  have  any  special  am 
bition  to  see  you  shine  overmuch  in  athletics  at 
college,"  because  it  will  take  too  much  of  his  time. 
He  then  affirms  that  he  would  rather  have  his  son 
excel  in  his  studies  than  in  athletics  but  that  above 
all  else  he  must  "show  true  manliness  of  character 
than  show  either  intellectual  or  physical  prowess." 
In  his  "Pacific"  lectures  he  reminded  them,  "But  I 
wish  to  remind  you  that  merely  having  a  good  time 
will  turn  to  bitter  dust." 

The  children  of  all  kinds  of  public  men  are  subject 
to  special  temptations.  Some  come  from  overatten- 
tion  and  the  unusual  privileges  which  such  a  place 
gives.  There  are  also  a  certain  type  of  human  de 
mons  who  find  hyenalike  delight  in  working  moral 
destruction  on  the  children  of  conspicuous  people. 
Other  criminally  minded  people  vent  their  spleen  on 
the  children  of  one  they  hate.  Mr.  Roosevelt  once 
told  his  physician,  Dr.  Lambert : 

You  have  never  sounded  the  depths  of  human  depravity 
until  you  see  the  mail  sent  to  a  President  and  his  children. 
Such  filth  and  enmity  is  inconceivable.  And  since  the 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  51 

writers  maliciously  seek  to  reach  the  little  ones,  all  the  mail 
must  be  carefully  scanned  before  they  see  it. 

Much  evidence  exists  to  show  the  high  value  Mr. 
Roosevelt  put  on  religious  education.  He  said  once 
to  Dr.  Iglehart; 

We  must  cultivate  the  mind,  but  it  is  not  enough  only 
to  cultivate  the  mind.  With  education  of  mind  must  go 
the  spiritual  teaching  which  will  make  us  turn  the  trained 
intellect  to  good  account.  .  .  .  Education  must  be  educa 
tion  of  the  heart  and  conscience  no  less  than  of  the  mind. 

In  line  with  this  Theodore  Jr.  tells  us  "  'Pilgrim's 
Progress'  and  the  'Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic'  we 
knew  when  very  young.  When  father  was  dressing 
for  dinner  he  used  to  teach  us  poetry." 

Once  when  Quentin  was  ill  and  could  not  get  out 
of  bed  to  say  his  prayers,  his  devout  French  nurse 
knelt  in  his  stead  to  impress  upon  him  the  fact  that 
it  was  not  right  to  say  his  prayers  unless  he  knelt 
down.  Was  it  accidental  that  a  devout  nurse  was 
selected? 

It  is  very  evident  from  many  references  to  the 
names  which  the  children  gave  animals  that  they 
were  familiar  with  people  in  religious  fields.  These 
names  were  in  their  hero  class,  or  they  would  not 
have  applied  them  to  loved  pets.  In  a  letter  to  E.  B. 
Martin  Mr.  Roosevelt  tells  him  that  one  of  his  boys 
had  named  his  guinea  pigs  after  such  people  as 
"Bishop  Doane,  Dr.  Johnson,  my  Dutch  Reformed 
pastor,  and  Father  Grady,  the  local  priest,  with 
whom  the  children  had  scraped  a  speaking  acquain 
tance."  He  then  tells  about  a  small  bear  which 


52  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

some  political  friends  from  West  Virginia  had  sent 
him  "which  the  children  of  their  own  accord  chris 
tened  'Jonathan  Edwards/  partly  out  of  compliment 
to  their  mother's  ancestor  and  partly  because  they 
thought  they  detected  Calvinistic  traits  in  the  bear's 
character."  It  is  natural  to  presume  that  they 
knew  something  about  Calvin  if  they  saw  his  "traits" 
in  the  bear. 

Kermit  told  me: 

Father  was  only  strict  about  one  thing  on  Sunday,  and 
that  was  that  we  attend  church  and  Sunday  school.  After 
that  we  could  spend  the  day  as  we  thought  best;  he  trusted 
our  sense  of  fitness. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  playfully  described  a  household 
custom  which  usually  permitted  the  children  to  ac 
company  their  mother  to  the  Episcopal  church  while 
he  went  alone  to  the  Dutch  Reformed :  "But  if  any 
child  misbehaved  itself,  it  was  sometimes  sent  next 
Sunday  to  church  with  me,"  when  that  particular 
child  would  walk  along  with  rather  strained  polite 
ness,  showing  that  the  prescription  worked  and 
quieted  the  turbulent  spirit. 

The  rector  of  the  Protestant  Episcopalian  church 
at  Oyster  Bay  which  the  family  attended,  writing  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  attitude  toward  the  Sunday  school, 
said: 

Of  course,  the  parish  has  a  Sunday  school.  Looking  over 
the  old  registers,  one  finds  the  family  represented  on  the 
roll.  Once  each  year  on  Christmas  Eve  the  Colonel  himself 
spoke  to  the  school,  receiving  his  orange  and  box  of  candy 
with  the  other  members  of  the  school  and  joining  heartily 


HIS  OWN  AN  IDEAL  HOME  53 

in   the   singing  of   our  historic  carol,   doubly    dear   to  us 
henceforth  because  he  loved  it. 

But  evidently  he  attended  Sunday-school  meetings 
and  was  often  depressed  by  their  inefficiency,  for 
he  says  in  his  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  lectures : 

It  has  always  irritated  me  when,  in  whatever  capacity,  I 
have  attended  Sunday-school  celebrations,  to  listen  to  some 
of  the  speeches  made,  and  especially  when  I  knew  some  of 
the  men  making  them  (Realizable  Ideais,  page  4). 

Mr.  Koosevelt  was  very  proud  of  the  "record"  of 
Quentin  which  General  Pershing  gave  on  his  death. 
One  section  read:  "He  was  most  courteous  in  his 
conduct,  clean  in  his  private  life,  and  devoted  in  his 
duty." 

Mr.  Koosevelt's  constant  aim  was  not  alone  to 
teach  by  word  but  to  set  an  ideal  example.  His 
highest  ambition  was  to  say,  "Follow  me  as  I  follow 
right."  And  so  he  closes  his  Pacific  Theological 
Lectures  in  Berkeley  with  the  words : 

My  plea  can  be  summed  up  in  these  words:  I  ask  you 
men  and  women  to  act  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  in  private 
life  and  in  public  life,  in  business,  in  politics,  and  in  every 
other  relation,  as  you  hope  to  see  your  sons  and  daughters 
act  if  you  have  brought  them  up  rightly  and  if  you  prize 
their  good  name  and  good  standing  among  decent  men  and 
women  (Realizable  Ideals,  page  154). 

Well  could  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes  say  concerning 
this  home,  at  a  memorial  service  in  the  Republican 
Club,  New  York : 


54  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 


It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  remember  the  family  life  of 
this  stout-hearted  American.  ...  An  ideal  husband  and 
father,  his  home  was  the  beautiful  abode  of  all  that  was 
worthy  and  true. 


CHAPTER  III 
A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF 

"It's  a  mighty  bad  thing  for  a  boy  when  he  becomes 
afraid  to  go  to  his  father  with  his  troubles,  and  it's  mighty 
bad  for  a  father  when  he  becomes  so  busy  with  other  affairs, 
that  he  has  no  time  for  the  affairs  of  his  children." — 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the  children, 
and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers. — Mai.  4-  6. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  believed  in  the  leaven  of 
righteousness,  and  therefore,  having  built  a 
strong  Christian  character,  he  utilized  it  to 
influence  his  children.     To  do  that  like  the  Great 
Teacher  he  kept  his  nature  childlike  in  simplicity 
and  gladly  fellowshiped  with  them. 

Kermit  said  to  the  writer,  "Father  was  a  tre 
mendous  friend,  though,  of  course,  he  would  not 
brook  disobedience."  The  emphasis  was  on  the  word 
"friend."  Theodore  added : 

All  our  lives  my  father  treated  his  sons  and  daughters 
as  companions.  When  we  were  not  with  him  he  wrote  us 
constantly.  .  .  .  Father,  busy  as  he  was,  during  the  entire 
time  we  were  abroad  (during  the  war)  wrote  to  each  of  us 
weekly,  and  when  he  physically  could,  in  his  own  hand. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  tells  of  frequent  walks  while  he  was 
assistant  secretary  of  the  navy,  when  his  own  chil 
dren  and  Leonard  Wood  with  his  children  accom- 

55 


56  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

panied  him.  He  was  much  pleased  because  General 
Wood's  son  seemed  to  consider  him  very  patriarchal. 
He  explains  that  he  was  leading  a  group  of  children 
on  a  hike  and  came  to  Rock  Creek  across  which  a 
tree  had  so  fallen  as  to  form  a  bridge.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
was  standing  on  the  log  half  way  across  in  order 
that  he  could  help  the  little  folks  over.  Suddenly 
one  lively  lad  caused  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  reach  so  far 
that  he  overbalanced  and  fell  into  the  water.  Then 
the  little  Wood  boy  cried  out  frantically,  "Oh !  Oh ! 
the  father  of  all  the  children  fell  into  the  creek." 

While  he  "lifted"  them  he  also  retained  his  own 
youth  by  fellowship  with  boys  and  girls,  and  it 
grieved  him  if  he  felt  that  they  were  growing  away 
from  him  or  no  longer  had  a  place  for  him  in  their 
play.  He  wrote  Ethel  about  a  group  of  boys  Quen- 
tin  had  at  the  White  House  and  showed  by  his 
letter  that  he  was  sincerely  grieved  because  they 
did  not  deem  him  young  enough  to  invite  him  to 
join  in  their  games.  He  then  reminds  her  of  the 
times  he  joined  her  playmates  in  "hide  and  seek"  in 
the  White  House  and  "obstacle  races"  down  the 
hall. 

All  great  servants  of  humanity  have  been  lovers 
of  children  with  time  in  spite  of  heavy  duties  to  give 
their  own  offspring.  Lincoln's  Tad  was  always  with 
him.  According  to  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  when  his  father 
was  in  a  night  conference  the  boy  would  lie  down  on 
the  floor  at  the  President's  feet  and  go  to  sleep. 
When  the  conference  was  over  Mr.  Lincoln  would 
pick  Tad  up  and  himself  undress  and  put  him  to  bed. 
Washington,  deprived  of  children  of  his  own,  adopted 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  57 

several  and  found  richest  delight  in  their  company. 
David  all  but  broke  his  heart  over  Absalom's  dis 
obedience  and  defection. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  wise  in  condemning  a 
home  where  childhood  finds  no  welcome,  for  its  in 
mates  lose  the  spirit  of  that  Kingdom  which  insures 
their  being  humble  and  helpful  citizens.  If  all  the 
facts  were  known,  it  is  probable  that  at  weary  hours 
he  may  have  desired  to  escape  from  the  children. 
Instead,  however,  he  willfully  pushed  aside  crowd 
ing  work,  and  for  his  own  sake  and  that  of  the  service 
he  desired  to  render  he  put  himself  into  a  playful 
attitude,  and  so  became  one  of  them,  even  as  he  will 
fully  gave  himself  to  exercise. 

Mrs.  Robinson  said  to  the  writer : 

My  brother  loved  children  as  naturally  as  the  birds  do 
springtime.  He  took  as  much  pains  to  help  my  boys  as  he 
did  his  own.  He  gave  them  much  pleasure  and  real  in 
tellectual  profit.  He  played  with  my  grandchildren  with 
as  much  enthusiasm  as  with  his  children's  little  ones. 

He  had  no  single  strain  of  hardness  or  cruelty  in 
his  make-up  but,  like  his  Master,  was  uniformly 
gentle.  That  is  the  reason  he  was  so  winsome  to 
childhood.  Some  imagined  that  his  delight  in  hunt 
ing  marked  him  as  loving  to  shed  blood.  Dr.  Lam 
bert,  who  accompanied  him  on  many  hunts,  discussed 
that  with  the  writer: 

Mr.  Roosevelt  never  killed  game  for  "sport."  One  day  in 
Colorado  we  were  not  able  to  go  hunting  but  were  shut 
in  by  a  snowstorm.  Phil  Stewart,  of  Colorado  Springs, 
was  with  us.  To  tease  the  President  he  suddenly  said  to 


58  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

him,  "I  believe  your  habit  of  never  killing  game  for  'sport' 
is  not  necessarily  an  evidence  of  kindliness  of  heart  but  is, 
rather,  the  sign  of  a  weakness  of  character."  The  President 
could  not  forget  the  charge  even  though  made  in  fun,  and 
the  next  day  I  found  him  pondering  it  again.  It  hurt  him 
deeply  to  have  his  native  kindliness  of  heart  questioned. 
He  did,  of  course,  kill  all  the  mountain  lions  he  could  find 
because  he  enjoyed  the  danger  of  handling  them,  and  he 
was  ridding  various  regions  of  destructive  beasts.  There 
was  never  the  least  evidence  of  cruelty  in  his  hunting." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  accredited  the  confidence  of  chil 
dren  as  an  asset.  It  was  charged  that  a  man  under 
consideration  for  appointment  to  a  federal  judgeship 
in  a  Western  State  gambled.  A  State  "leader" 
called  on  the  President  and  told  him  that  these 
charges  greatly  distressed  the  man's  family,  and 
showed  a  letter  from  the  candidate's  daughter  which 
read :  "Dear  Papa :  Why  don't  you  go  to  the  Presi 
dent  and  tell  him  about  it?  If  he  sees  your  face,  he 
will  never  believe  those  nasty  charges."  Taking  a 
rose  from  his  table  the  President  handed  it  to  his 
caller  and  said :  "I  wish  that  you  would  send  this 
flower  to  that  daughter  and  tell  her  I  like  a  young 
girl  who  has  that  kind  of  faith  in  her  father."  At 
that  moment  a  note  arrived  from  Attorney-General 
Knox,  stating  that  investigation  had  found  the 
charges  to  be  untrue.  After  showing  the  note  to  the 
State  leader,  the  President  sent  the  candidate's 
nomination  to  the  Senate. 

He  saw  in  children  the  future  leaders  and  counted 
time  given  to  them  as  well  invested.  He  counted  ap 
pointments  with  his  children  as  binding  as  any  made 
with  adults.  The  nephews  were  no  more  slighted 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  59 

than  his  own  children  and  had  no  abnormal  fear  of 
the  President.  He  was  still  "Uncle  Teddy."  One 
afternoon  he  had  forgotten  to  show  up  at  four 
o'clock,  so  one  of  his  nephews  came  in  and  said : 

"Uncle  Teddy,  it's  after  four." 

"So  it  is,"  responded  Mr.  Roosevelt,  looking  at  the  clock. 
"Why  didn't  you  call  me  sooner?  One  of  you  boys  get  my 
rifle." 

Then  he  turned  to  his  guest  and  added:  "I  must  ask  you 
to  excuse  me.  We'll  talk  this  out  some  other  time.  I  prom 
ised  the  boys  I'd  go  shooting  with  them  after  four  o'clock, 
and  I  never  keep  boys  waiting.  It's  a  hard  trial  for  a  boy 
to  wait."1 

Mr.  Riis  described  a  big  Christmas  dinner  given 
in  the  Duane  Street  Newsboys'  Lodging  House. 

When  the  superintendent's  back  was  turned,  eight  of  the 
boys,  as  they  took  their  places  at  the  table,  "swiped"  an 
other's  pie.  Seeing  Mr.  Riis  and  mistaking  him  for  Police 
Commissioner  Roosevelt,  one  boy  spoke  up:  "I  know  you. 
I  seen  your  pitcher  in  the  papers.  You're  Teddy  Roosevelt." 
Immediately  the  eight  pieces  of  pie  mysteriously  reap 
peared  in  their  places.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  supposed  presence 
had  awakened  the  boys  to  be  honest.  What  a  tribute  to 
his  character! 

When  he  heard  this  incident  he  said  that  no  higher 
compliment  had  ever  been  paid  him. 

In  January,  1905,  he  accompanied  nine  boys, 
which  included  three  of  his  own,  on  a  "scramble" 
through  Rock  Creek  Park,  Washington.  The  boys 
insisted  on  his  company  and  he  wrote  one  of  the 
parents : 

Trom  The  Life  and  Meaning  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  by  Eugene  Thwing,  p. 
222. 


60  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

I  am  really  touched  at  the  way  in  which  your  children, 
as  well  as  my  own,  treat  me  as  a  friend  and  playmate.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  think  that  one  of  them  saw  anything  incongruous 
in  the  President's  getting  as  bedaubed  with  mud  as  they 
got,  or  in  my  wiggling  and  clambering  around  jutting  rocks, 
through  cracks,  and  up  what  were  really  small  cliff  faces, 
just  like  the  rest  of  them. 

When  one  of  them  surpassed  him  they  would  crow 
just  as  if  he  were  a  boy  of  their  own  age. 

He  never  forgot  the  joyful  thrills  of  his  own  child 
hood  at  Christmas  time,  and  hence  was  able  to  make 
a  glad  time  at  that  season  for  his  own  household. 
He  wrote  of  the  rapture  which  the  gifts  brought : 

I  wonder  whether  there  ever  can  come  in  life  a  thrill  of 
greater  exaltation  and  rapture  than  that  which  comes  to 
one  between  the  ages  of  say  six  and  fourteen  when  the 
library  door  is  thrown  open  and  you  walk  in  to  see  all  the 
gifts  like  a  materialized  fairy  land,  arranged  on  your  special 
table. 

Pity  the  pauperized  heart  that  would  destroy  and 
deny  the  existence  of  Santa  Claus. 

It  is  probable  that  while  the  President  was  not 
consulted,  he  nevertheless  was  not  opposed  to  the 
trip  which  Algonquin,  "the  pony,"  made  to  the  bed 
room  of  Archy  when  he  was  sick  in  the  White  House. 
The  stable  boys,  feeling  certain  that  a  visit  with 
the  pony  would  cure  the  invalid,  conspired  together 
to  smuggle  the  animal  into  the  basement  and  into 
the  elevator  which  carried  him  up  to  the  sickroom 
of  the  lad. 

The  President  describes  one  of  Quentin's  exploits 
in  a  letter  to  Archie.  He  had  caught  two  snakes  at 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  GL 

Oyster  Bay  and  brought  one  of  them  along  to  Wash 
ington.  En  route  it  had  created  consternation  on 
the  train  by  getting  out  of  its  box  and  into  the  car 
two  or  three  times.  On  arriving  at  home  he  visited 
a  "pet"  store,  and  the  owner  loaned  him  three  more 
snakes  for  the  day,  one  large  and  two  small  ones. 

Quentin  engrossed  in  his  pets  came  rushing  on 
his  roller  skates  into  his  father's  private  office  where 
the  President  was  conferring  with  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral  and  deposited  the  snakes  in  his  father's  lap. 
The  aboy"  problem  was  more  important  than  any 
other. 

In  another  letter  he  tells  with  great  enjoyment 
how  Quentin  procured  a  hive  of  bees  for  experimen 
tation.  His  partner  was  "a  mongrel-looking  small 
boy  with  an  Italian  name  whose  father  kept  a  fruit- 
stand."  They  took  the  bees  up  to  the  school  exhibit, 
where  some  of  them  got  out  of  the  hive  and  were 
left  behind,  and  "yesterday  they  at  intervals  added 
great  zest  to  life  in  the  classroom." 

He  writes  Ted  of  his  arrival  at  Oyster  Bay  for 
the  summer.  Quentin  and  his  dog  Black  Jack  stay 
close  to  him  while  he  tries  to  work.  The  dog  is 
curled  up  in  a  chair  while  the  boy  keeps  talking  to 
him  so  that  there  is  added  "an  element  of  harassing 
difficulty  to  my  effort  to  answer  my  accumulated 
correspondence."  But  he  does  not  send  the  little 
fellow  away,  but  treasures  his  fellowship. 

At  another  period  he  writes  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stuart 
Phelps  Ward  that  since  his  daughter  is  out  he  is  act 
ing  as  nurse  for  two  guinea  pigs  which  his  daughter 
does  not  count  safe  with  anyone  else,  and  he  con- 


62  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

eludes :  "I  do  not  intend  to  have  wanton  suffering 
inflicted  on  any  creature." 

When  a  woman  visitor  at  his  White  House  office 
once  suggested  that  his  children  must  be  a  great 
pleasure  to  him,  he  replied  with  a  smile: 

"Pleasure!  You  would  be  surprised  and  perhaps  shocked 
if  you  could  see  the  President  of  the  United  States  engaged 
in  a  pillow  fight  with  his  children.  But  those  fights  are 
the  joy  of  my  life." 

One  of  these  fights  is  described  in  a  letter  to  Kermit. 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  had  preceded  the  President  up  the 
stairs  and  at  the  top  Archie  and  Quentin  met  her 
armed  with  pillows  and  warned  her  not  to  tell 
"father."  When  he  reached  the  top  of  the  stairs 
"they  assailed  me  with  shrieks  and  chuckles  of  de 
light  and  then  the  pillow  fight  raged  up  and  down 
the  hall." 

It  was  frequently  his  custom  after  his  bath  to  read 
them  from  Uncle  Remus,  which  task  "mother" 
usually  performed,  but  "now  and  then  when  I  think 
she  really  must  have  a  holiday  from  it,  I  read  to 
them  myself."  And  he  did  it  so  delightfully  that 
the  children  still  recall  it  as  one  of  life's  brightest 
memories. 

Again  he  writes  Kermit  a  letter  which  gives  a  pic 
ture  of  the  ideal  father,  keeping  young  with  and 
training  his  children  in  fundamental  religion.  There 
is  no  substitute  for  the  Bible  and  hymns.  "Mother" 
has  gone  off  for  nine  days  and  he  is  taking  her  place. 
Each  night  he  spends  three  fourths  of  an  hour  read 
ing  such  books  as  Algonquin  Indian  Tales  or  the 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  63 

poetry  of  Scott  and  Macaulay.  He  also  reads  them 
"each  evening  from  the  Bible."  He  chooses  such 
stories  as  David,  Saul,  and  Jonathan,  and  they  be 
came  so  interested  that  many  times  the  President 
had  to  read  more  than  a  chapter.  This  distinguished 
father  then  hears  them  say  their  prayers  and  repeat 
the  hymn  which  was  assigned  to  be  committed.  If 
the  latter  is  repeated  correctly,  he  gives  the  "reward 
of  a  five-cent  piece" — in  line  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt's 
instructions.  He  is  frequently  "disconcerted  by  the 
fact  that  they  persist  in  regarding  me  as  a  play 
mate." 

He  played  a  water  game  called  "stage-coach"  on 
the  float;  while  in  swimming  with  the  children.  Dur 
ing  the  improvised  story  told  by  the  grown-up, 
when  the  word  "stage-coach"  is  mentioned,  in  the 
indoor  game  each  one  gets  up  and  turns  around 
and  finds  a  new  seat.  But  instead  of  tamely  do 
ing  this  in  the  water  game,  the  children  plunge 
overboard. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  tells  us  that  then  comes  a  tense 
period.  The  water  is  alive  with  kicking  legs  and 
bubbles  from  submerged  heads.  He  must  carefully 
count  heads  that  come  up  to  see  if  they  correspond 
"with  the  number  of  children  who  had  gone  down." 

Nothing  builds  a  faith  in  God  and  goodness  that 
will  withstand  the  storms  of  life  so  successfully  as 
a  happy  childhood.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  "Memories" 
doubtless  inspired  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  own 
children. 

In  a  letter  to  Miss  Carow,  his  wife's  sister,  in 
August,  1903,  he  describes  the  celebration  of  Ethel's 


64  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

birthday,  when  her  only  request  from  him  was  that 
he  should  take  part  in  a  barn  romp : 

Of  course,  I  had  not  the  heart  to  refuse,  but  really  it 
seems,  to  put  it  mildly,  rather  odd  for  a  stout,  elderly 
President  to  be  bouncing  over  hay  ricks  in  a  wild  effort  to 
get  to  goal  before  an  active  midget  of  a  competitor  aged 
nine. 

He  further  details  an  amateur  theatrical  per 
formance  which  Lorraine  and  Ted  arranged  for 
"Laura  Roosevelt's  tennis  courts."  Quentin  was 
Cupid,  Ted  represented  George  Washington,  and 
Cleopatra  was  impersonated  by  Lorraine.  They 
closed  with  a  song  in  which  a  verse  was  dedicated  to 
the  President,  who  then  writes:  "I  love  all  these 
children  and  have  great  fun  with  them,  and  I  am 
touched  by  the  way  in  which  they  feel  that  I  am  their 
special  friend,  champion,  and  companion." 

The  President  frequently  went  out  camping  with 
his  boys  and  their  selected  companions.  They  would 
roll  up  in  a  blanket  and  sleep  on  the  ground.  They 
arose  early  and  were  enthusiastic  over  the  meals  he 
would  prepare.  He  tells  us  that  "it  was  of  a  simple 
character,  .  .  .  but  they  certainly  ate  in  a  way  that 
showed  their  words  were  not  uttered  in  a  spirit  of 
empty  compliment." 

Kermit  gave  some  vivid  descriptions  of  these  ex 
peditions  with  his  father  in  the  Metropolitan  Maga 
zine. 

His  father  from  the  start  enforced  the  law  of  the 
jungle.  A  group  would  row  across  the  bay  in  the 
afternoon  to  a  point  of  land  four  or  live  miles  away. 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  65 

They  carried  food  and  blankets  and  cooked  their 
supper,  usually  of  bacon  and  chicken,  with  fire  built 
from  driftwood  on  the  beach.  Any  child  who  would 
greedily  grab  or  selfishly  select  his  piece  of  chicken 
was  warned  that  such  an  act  might  cut  him  out  of 
the  party  the  next  time.  After  supper  they  wrapped 
the  blankets  around  themselves  and  lay  down  on 
the  sand  while  "father"  would  tell  ghost  stories. 
"The  smallest  of  us  lay  within  reach  of  father,  where 
we  could  touch  him  if  the  story  became  too  vivid  for 
our  nerves  and  we  needed  the  reassuring  feel  of  his 
clothes  to  bring  us  back  to  reality."  If  there  was  a 
"haunt"  in  it  which  led  to  seizing  a  victim,  the 
story-teller  would  illustrate  it  by  seizing  the  nearest 
child  at  the  opportune  moment.  After  the  story  they 
would  roll  up  in  their  blankets,  burrow  in  the  sand, 
and  sleep.  At  dawn  they  arose  to  gather  more  wood 
and  cook  breakfast  and  prepare  to  return.  On  the 
row  home  they  would  chant  a  ballad  of  a  seafaring 
nature  which  they  had  learned  from  their  father. 
Such  trips  occurred  three  or  four  times  during  a 
summer  and  began  when  the  boys  were  only  six  or 
seven  and  continued  until  they  were  grown,  and  left 
home.  When  his  children  held  his  attention  he  for 
got  everything  else.  He  genuinely  enjoyed  and  en 
tered  into  all  their  sports. 

Mr.  Cheney  tells  how  Scribners  once  sent  a 
stenographer  to  write  a  story  which  Mr.  Roosevelt 
had  agreed  to  dictate.  Waiting  an  hour  after  the 
appointed  time,  she  protested  impatiently  at  his 
failure  to  keep  the  appointment,  when  someone  di 
rected  her  to  the  window,  where  she  saw  the  reason 


66  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

why  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  forgotten  the  appointment. 
He  was  sliding  down  the  hill  on  skis  with  the  chil 
dren.  Appearing  later,  he  was  very  apologetic. 

In  all  this  fellowship  with  his  children  he  kept  his 
own  spirit  saturated  with  religion  as  he  did  his  lungs 
with  good  air,  so  that  he  would  build  right  ideals  in 
his  children.  In  a  letter  to  Edith  Wharton,  Paris, 
he  enforced  this  fact  in  referring  to  the  death  of 
Quentin : 

There  is  no  use  of  my  writing  about  Quentin,  as  I  should 
break  down  if  I  tried.  His  death  is  heart-breaking,  but 
it  would  have  been  far  worse  if  he  had  lived  at  the  cost  of 
the  slightest  failure  to  perform  his  duty.1 

When  F.  R.  Coudert,  an  old  friend  of  the  family, 
returned  from  France,  he  met  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  was 
greeted  as  follows:  "You  saw  Quentin?  It  is  a 
terrible  thing  that  he  will  never  return.  It  would 
be  a  more  terrible  thing  if  he  had  not  gone."2  As 
Senator  Lodge  said :  "I  cannot  say  that  he  sent  his 
four  sons,  because  they  all  went  at  once,  as  everyone 
knew  that  their  father's  sons  would  go."3 

The  training  received  fitted  them  to  hear  and 
answer  the  call  of  humanity  in  a  prompt  and  self- 
sacrificing  way — life  was  not  held  dear  when  service 
called.  The  acid  test  showed  them  to  be  sound  to 
the  core. 

Julian  Street  describes  the  way  he  taught  his  chil 
dren  the  motto,  "Always  over  or  through,  never 
around,"  which  made  them  "good  soldiers."  When 

'From  The  Life  and  Meaning  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,   by  Eugene  Thwing,  p. 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  67 

he  was  governor  he  would  start  on  a  walk  with  Mrs. 
Roosevelt  and  the  children,  and  they  would  under 
stand  that  ultimately  some  physical  test  would  be 
met.  The  walk  would  call  for  sustained  effort  in 
the  face  of  fatigue;  to  cross  a  difficult  field  or  to 
ford  a  brook  at  a  treacherous  spot,  or  to  go  through 
a  deep  ravine  with  tangled  underbrush.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  were  teaching  the  children  that  life 
presents  similar  obstacles  and  that  "It  is  the  part 
of  good  manhood  and  good  womanhood  to  meet 
squarely  and  surmount  them,  going  through  or  over, 
but  never  around."  Thus  early  they  began  to  learn 
lessons  in  "resourcefulness,  perseverance,  courage, 
stoicism,  and  disregard  for  danger."  The  latter  was 
often  met.  They  once  came  to  an  almost  perpendicu 
lar  clay  bank,  very  difficult  to  ascend.  All  succeeded 
except  Alice,  then  a  girl  of  sixteen,  who  had  reached 
the  top  but  could  not  get  down.  Elon  Hooker,  a 
family  friend,  had  accompanied  them.  He  climbed 
a  tree  and  grasping  a  piece  of  slate  on  the  bank  he 
made  a  bridge  with  his  arm.  When  Alice  stepped 
on  the  arm  the  piece  of  slate  gave  way  and  fell  to 
the  bottom  of  the  precipice  but  she  caught  a  limb 
and  held  on  until  Mr.  Hooker  rescued  her  and 
brought  her  safely  down.  They  then  discovered  that 
the  mass  of  slate  had  struck  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  the 
head  and  made  a  cut  from  forehead  to  rear  which 
caused  the  surgeon  to  take  a  dozen  stitches ;  but  there 
was  no  complaint. 

One  of  the  "cousins"  recounted  her  memories  of 
these  tramps  to  Dean  Lewis.  He  had  few  rules  and 
was  always  just  and  fair,  she  said,  but  expected  them 


68  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

to  use  their  reason.  "If  there  was  a  slip  in  climbing 
a  tree  because  both  hands  were  not  used,  home  we 
went."  It  was  the  same  if  they  fell  into  a  brook. 
"We  never  regarded  this  kind  of  punishment  as 
unfair  because  it  taught  us  to  take  care  of  ourselves." 
He  was  a  great  favorite  as  Santa  Glaus  at  the  vil 
lage  school  where  his  children  attended.  He  always 
demanded  his  "treat"  with  the  children.  Frequently 
he  used  the  occasion  to  enforce  Christian  virtues. 
Once  he  said  to  them : 

I  want  you  all  as  you  grow  up  to  have  a  good  time.  I 
do  not  think  enough  of  a  sour-faced  child  to  spank  him. 
And  while  you  are  having  a  good  time,  work,  for  you  will 
have  a  good  time  while  you  work,  if  you  work  the  right 
way.  If  the  time  ever  comes  for  you  to  fight,  fight,  as  you 
have  worked,  for  it  will  be  your  duty.  A  coward,  you 
know,  is  several  degrees  meaner  than  a  liar.  Be  manly  and 
gentle  to  those  weaker  than  yourselves.  Hold  your  own 
and  at  the  same  time  do  your  duty  to  the  weak,  and  you 
will  come  pretty  near  being  noble  men  and  women.1 

His  boys  went  to  the  public  school  at  Oyster  Bay 
through  the  grammar  grades  and  in  Washington  and 
did  not  know  any  discrimination  of  class  or  con 
dition  but  accepted  all  as  members  of  the  great 
brotherhood.  One  of  them  when  asked  how  he  got 
along  with  the  "common"  boys  in  school  replied, 
"My  father  says  there  are  only  tall  boys  and  short 
boys  and  bad  boys  and  good  boys,  and  that's  all  the 
kinds  of  boys  there  are."  That  teaching  will  insure 
democracy. 

'Reprinted  by  permission  of  The  Macmillan  Company,  from  Theodore  Roose 
vdt:  The  Boy  and  the  Man,  by  James  Morgan,  p.  284.  Copyright,  1907,  by 
The  Macmillan  Company. 


A  HELPFUL  FATHER  HIMSELF  69 

In  a  commencement  address  at  the  "Hill  School," 
in  which  many  notable  men  have  been  prepared  for 
college,  he  enforced  the  need  of  earnest  righteous 
ness: 

One  of  the  hardest  things  to  do  is  to  make  men  under 
stand  that  "efficiency  in  politics  does  not  atone  for  public 
immorality." 

I  believe  in  happiness,  I  believe  in  pleasure — but  I  do 
not  believe  you  will  have  any  good  time  at  all  in  life  un 
less  the  good  time  comes  as  an  incident  of  the  doing  of 
duty — doing  some  work  worth  doing. 

Continuing  he  said: 

In  short,  to-day,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Civic  Club, 
...  I  preach  to  you  the  doctrine  that  .  .  .  you  will  amount 
to  nothing  unless  you  have  ideals,  and  you  will  amount  to 
nothing  unless  in  good  faith  you  strive  to  realize  them 
(The  Outlook,  June  9,  1913). 

In  an  article  on  "Character  and  Success"  in  The 
Outlook,  March  31,  1900,  in  discussing  a  Harvard- 
Yale  football  game,  he  repeated  with  satisfaction 
what  a  Yale  professor  had  said  to  him  about 
character  in  a  football  player : 

I  told  them  not  to  take  him,  for  he  was  slack  in  his 
studies,  and  my  experience  is  that,  as  a  rule,  the  man  who  is 
slack  in  his  studies  will  be  slack  in  his  football  work;  it 
is  character  that  counts  in  both. 


He  added: 

Between  any  two  contestants,  even  in  college  sport  or  in 
college  work,  the  difference  in  character  on  the  right  side 


70  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

is  as  great  as  the   difference  of  intellect  or  strength  the 
other  way;  it  is  the  character  side  that  will  win. 

Dr.  Lambert  said  to  the  writer: 

The  President  visited  Ted  at  the  Groton  School.  When 
he  left  the  lad  kissed  his  father  good-by.  He  then  told  his 
father  that  the  last  time  he  did  that  he  had  several  fights 
on  his  hands  because  the  boys  teased  him  about  it  and  he 
had  waded  into  them.  Then  the  President  said:  "You 
can  be  just  as  good  and  as  affectionate  in  life  as  you  are 
willing  to  fight  for."  And  he  himself  taught  and  illus 
trated  that  truth  all  his  life. 

The  writer  said  to  Kermit:  "If  someone  should 
say  to  you,  'How  can  you  prove  that  your  father 
had  faith  in  God?'  how  would  you  answer?"  In  a 
voice  a  little  stiff  with  indignation  he  replied :  "I 
wouldn't  answer  it."  In  further  conversation  he 
showed  that  he  considered  the  question  an  absurd 
one,  for  to  him  his  father's  faith  in  God  seemed  very 
evident. 

Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  once  said  of  her  father, 
Lyman  Beecher,  "My  father  was  for  so  many  years 
for  me  so  true  an  image  of  the  heavenly  Father." 
Few  can  fairly  receive  that  tribute,  but  every  man 
can  in  his  own  way  strive  to  be  a  clean,  companion 
able,  inspiring,  and  high-purposed  father  striving  to 
put  the  ideals  of  Jesus  into  deeds.  Theodore  Roose 
velt  was  preeminently  that  kind  of  a  father,  and 
without  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  the  indwelling 
spirit  of  God  he  could  not  have  so  nearly  approached 
the  ideal. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  FOR  HIS 
CAREER 

"God  is  with  the  patient  if  they  know  how  to  wait." — 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Thou  therefore  endure  hardness,  as  a  good  soldier. — 
2  Tini.  2.  3. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  once  said :  "Fit  yourselves 
for  the  work  God  has  for  you  to  do  in  this 
world  and  lose  no  time  about  it."  He  had 
a  fearless  confidence  that  his  life  was  immortal  until 
his  work  was  done.  He  accepted  every  experience  as 
a  part  of  the  schooling  he  needed  for  his  tasks.  His 
mother  once  told  Mr.  Cheney,  the  editor  of  the  local 
paper,  after  Theodore  had  narrowly  escaped  serious 
injury  by  being  thrown  from  a  colt,  "If  the  Lord  had 
not  taken  care  of  Theodore  as  a  boy,  he  would  have 
been  killed  long  ago." 

Mrs.  Robinson  said  to  the  writer,  after  stressing 
the  deep  religious  nature  of  her  father,  "My  father 
had  a  confident  prevision  of  Theodore's  future,  be 
lieving  deeply  in  his  notable  usefulness." 

Riches  are  a  hindrance  to  the  spur  that  helps  suc 
cess.  Carnegie  pitied  the  sons  of  the  wealthy.  John 
D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  envied  his  father  his  early  pov 
erty.  But  Theodore's  wealth  was  turned  to  his  ad 
vantage,  since  it  gave  him  a  certain  independence 

71 


72  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

in  action  and  furnished  means  to  build  a  sturdy 
body  and  to  secure  unusual  training.  .  In  his  day 
many  of  the  sons  of  the  rich  were  soft  and  given  to 
slothful  ease.  He  believed  that  God  expected  every 
man  to  find  a  field  for  strenuous  endeavor.  He 
finally  believed  that  he  was  called  to  enter  politics. 
It  was  then  so  dominated  by  bosses  and  obedient 
henchmen  that  his  high-idealed  and  independent  ac 
tivities  were  looked  upon  as  a  joke.  The  New  York 
World  reported  a  speech  to  the  City  Reform  Club 
when  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  as  at 
tended  by  many  other  "dudes."  That  paper's  report 
continues : 

He  closed  by  upbraiding  the  dudes,  present  and  absent, 
for  not  knowing  more  about  politics.  .  .  .  When  Mr.  Roose 
velt  finished,  the  other  dudes  took  the  tops  of  their  canes 
out  of  their  mouths,  tapped  the  floor  with  the  other  end 
and  threw  away  their  lighted  cigarettes. 

In  that  day  it  was  counted  a  very  effeminate  habit 
to  smoke  cigarettes. 

He  accepted  inherited  wealth  as  a  God-intrusted 
talent  for  which  returns  must  be  made.  He  insisted, 
therefore,  that  the  freedom  from  engrossing  labor 
which  riches  insured  must  be  spent  in  public  service. 
Theodore  aspired  to  be  a  natural  history  student  like 
Audubon,  and  his  father  encouraged  him  and  insisted 
that  he  must  be  convinced  of  his  desire  to  do  scien 
tific  work  and  must  make  it  a  serious  career.  His 
father  assured  Theodore  that  he  "had  made  enough 
money  to  enable  me  to  take  up  such  a  career  and  to 
do  non-remunerative  work  of  value."  The  father 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  73 

insisted  that  it  must  not  be  taken  up  as  a  dilettante 
but  that  he  must  "abandon  all  thought  of  enjoyment 
that  could  accompany  a  money-making  career." 

Even  Lis  early  training  seemed  providentially 
ordered  to  fit  him  for  his  career.  His  mother's  sister 
and  his  grandmother  were  staunch  Southerners  who, 
much  against  their  will,  were  compelled  to  eat  the 
Northerner's  food,  since  the  Unionists  drove  them 
out  of  their  own  home.  They  lived  with  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  Sr.  Aunt  "Gracey"  had  much  to  do  with  the 
training  of  Teedie,  or  Theodore,  because  his  own 
mother  was  frail.  He  was  afterward  the  first  Presi 
dent  outside  of  those  who  were  likely  to  be  preju 
diced  by  actual  participation  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
this  unique  childhood  home  helped  to  save  him  from 
prejudice  against  the  South.  Aunt  "Gracey" 
was  very  devout,  and  while  she  taught  him  his  letters 
and  related  subjects  in  early  childhood,  she  also  gave 
him  an  earnest  training  in  religion  and  saturated 
him  with  psalms  and  hymns  which  he  committed  to 
memory. 

One  of  the  first  books  read  to  him  by  his  religious 
home  teachers  was  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  from 
it  he  drew  his  earliest  hero,  Great-Heart,  to  whom 
he  himself  was  appropriately  likened  at  death.  He 
once  said: 

Great-Heart  is  my  favorite  character  in  allegory,  just  as 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  is  to  my  mind  one  of  the 
greatest  books  that  was  ever  written;  and  I  think  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  ideal  Great-Heart  of  public  life. 

The  great  abundance  of  cartoonists  in  these  days 


74  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

— and  they  are  usually  very  "raw" — cause  us  to  lose 
sight  of  their  influence.  Mr.  Roosevelt  pays  Thomas 
Nast,  one  of  the  "first,"  this  tribute : 

When  I  was  a  boy  I  received  my  first  guidance  in  politics 
through  the  cartoons  of  that  famous  American  cartoonist, 
Thomas  Nast.  His  cartoons  dramatized  for  us  of  that  time 
the  hideousness  of  political  corruption,  .  .  .  indeed,  it  was 
he  who  first  gave  me  the  feeling  of  eager  championship  of 
the  army  and  navy  which  I  have  ever  since  retained.1 

"Oh,  I  did  not  think  you  could  live ;  you  were  so 
tiny  and  frail."  So  said  a  neighbor  woman  concern 
ing  a  new-born  baby  she  had  laid  aside  at  the  moth 
er's  death — feeling  confident  it  would  not  survive. 
But  the  puny  baby  lived  and  was  the  Reverend  Ly- 
man  Beecher,  the  father  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
and  six  other  preachers  and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  was  likewise  very  frail  at  birth 
and  far  into  his  teens.  He,  like  others,  built  charac 
ter  while  patiently  battling  for  health.  He  recalled 
his  father  walking  the  floor  with  him  at  night  while 
he  fights  to  get  his  breath.  Or  as  a  little  fellow  he 
would  sit  up  in  bed  gasping  for  breath  while  his 
parents  tried  to  aid 'him. 

Mrs.  Robinson  writes  of  him  for  Dean  Lewis : 

My  earliest  impressions  of  my  brother  Theodore  are 
those  of  a  rather  small,  patient,  suffering,  little  child.  .  .  . 
I  can  see  him  now,  faithfully  going  through  various  exer 
cises  at  different  times  of  the  day  to  broaden  the  chest 
narrowed  by  this  terrible  shortness  to  breath  to  make  the 


Americanism   and  Preparedness,   by  Theodore  Roosevelt,  p.  122.     From 
the  Evening  Mail,  used  by  permission. 


'BILL"  SEWALL  AND  A  LAD  FROM  THE  ROOSEVELT 
MILITARY  ACADEMY 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  75 

limbs  and  back  strong  and  able  to  bear  the  weight  of  what 
was  coming  later  in  life. 

Theodore  kept  a  diary  from  early  childhood.  He 
recorded  continuous  spells  of  sickness  and  suffering 
never  more  than  a  few  days  apart.  Soon  after  his 
tenth  birthday  he  went  abroad  and  was  harassed 
steadily  by  seasickness  in  addition  to  asthma,  last 
ing  often  for  four  or  five  hours  at  night.  He  was 
described  as  a  "tall,  thin  lad  with  bright  eyes  and 
legs  like  pipestems." 

After  securing  his  first  gun  he  found  that  while 
his  companions  hit,  he  invariably  missed  a  mark 
when  shooting.  He  mentioned  it  to  his  father,  who 
soon  bought  him  his  first  pair  of  spectacles,  which 
changed  the  whole  world  for  him.  He  attributed  his 
clumsiness  as  a  boy  to  the  fact  that  he  was  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  he  could  not  really  see.  He  after 
ward  said  that  the  memory  of  his  own  early  suffer 
ings  gave  him  sympathy  for  children  "unjustly 
blamed  for  being  obstinate  or  unambitious,  or  men 
tally  stupid''  when  they  were  probably  defective. 

He  was  sent  to  Moose  Head  Lake,  in  Maine,  to  re 
lieve  one  of  his  unusually  severe  attacks  of  asthma. 
While  en  route  on  the  stage  two  boys  amused  them 
selves  by  teasing  the  bespectacled  "high  brow."  He 
finally  attempted  to  fight  them,  but  they  handled 
him  with  humiliating  ease.  This  experience  spurred 
him  to  get  strength,  and  so  he  came  home  to  use  his 
piazza  gymnasium  strenuously,  instead  of  listlessly. 
He  urged  his  father  to  add  boxing  lessons  and  John 
Long,  an  ex-prize  fighter,  was  hired  for  that  purpose. 


7G  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

And  now  began  the  fight  that  gave  him  a  real 
human  body  and  added  to  his  courage  for  future 
years,  for  pure  physical  valor  aids  moral  courage. 

In  addition  to  physical  frailty,  he  was  also  timid 
and  very  retiring,  afraid  of  shadows  and  trembling 
before  cows.  His  deliverance  came  from  reading 
one  of  Marryat's  books  where  the  captain  of  a  small 
British  man  of  war  affirmed,  "that  almost  every  man 
is  frightened  when  he  goes  into  action,  but  that  the 
course  to  follow  was  for  a  man  to  keep  such  a  grip 
on  himself  that  he  can  act  just  as  if  he  were  not 
frightened."  This  captain  affirmed  that  ultimately 
pretense  would  come  to  reality.  Mr.  Roosevelt  tes 
tifies  that  he  tried  it,  and  where  he  was  afraid  at 
first  of  everything,  ranging  from  grizzly  bears  to 
"mean"  horses  and  gun  fighters,  he  gradually  ceased 
to  be  afraid  of  anything. 

While  a  freshman  at  Harvard,  Arthur  Cutler,  his 
tutor,  introduced  him  to  "Bill"  Sewall,  the  Maine 
guide,  who  became  his  lifelong  friend,  and  to  wThoin 
Cutler  said: 

I  want  you  to  take  good  care  of  this  young  fellow.  He's 
ambitious  and  he  isn't  very  strong.  He  won't  say  when  he's 
tired;  he  won't  complain,  but  he'll  just  break  down.  You 
can't  take  him  on  the  tramps  you  take  us. 

"Bill"  tells  us  that  with  the  "advice"  came  a  "thin, 
pale  youngster,  with  bad  eyes  and  a  weak  heart." 
But  he  was  not  "such  a  weakling,"  for  we  took  one 
walk  of  twenty-five  miles,  "a  good,  fair  walk  for  any 
common  man."  "He  was  always  good-natured  and 
full  of  fun.  I  do  not  ever  remember  him  being  'out 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  77 

of  sorts.' "  He  had  trained  himself  to  master  his 
own  spirit. 

Theodore  developed  and  showed  his  grit  on  an 
other  walk  with  "Bill."  En  route  to  a  lake  on  the 
Aroostook  River,  which  they  waded,  Theodore  hurt 
his  bare  foot  while  wading  the  river  and  accidentally 
dropped  his  shoe,  which  was  swiftly  swept  away. 
He  put  on  a  pair  of  moccasins  as  thin  as  stockings 
and  proceeded  on  a  tramp  over  the  rocky  mountain 
paths  for  the  whole  day,  without  a  murmur.  The 
trip  was  unusually  trying,  for  in  providing  special 
shoes  for  the  African  trip,  Kermit  explained  that 
his  father  had  "skin  as  tender  as  a  baby's,  and  he 
therefore  took  every  precaution  that  his  boots  should 
fit  him  properly  and  not  rub." 

His  intense  concentration  began  as  a  child.  TV. 
Emlen  Roosevelt  told  the  writer :  "He  would  read  a 
book  in  his  boyhood  with  such  utter  absorption  that 
no  call  would  affect  him,  and  the  only  way  to  attract 
him  was  to  hit  him  on  the  back."  He  literally  ob 
served  "This  one  thing  I  do." 

His  patient  persistency  was  proverbial.  While 
hunting  in  Colorado  a  dangerous  lion  sought  such 
a  refuge  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  his  guide  let  him 
over  the  precipice  by  his  feet,  and  his  guide  says, 
"He  killed  the  lion,  hanging  head  downward,  while 
I  held  him  by  the  feet."  He  once  told  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott:  "Do  you  know,  I  am  not  a  ready  writer. 
No  one  knows  how  much  time  I  put  into  my  articles 
for  The  Outlook." 

He  had  a  Christian  conception  of  the  power  of 
the  mind  and  spirit  over  the  body — a  truth  as  old  as 


78  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Jesus  and  older  and  long  practiced  by  the  "spiritual" 
folk  of  the  world.  He  needed  no  new  "ism"  to  teach 
it.  When  he  left  Harvard  a  doctor  who  gave  him 
a  physical  examination  informed  him  that  he  had 
heart  trouble  and  that  he  must  not  take  vigorous 
exercise  or  run  upstairs.  Mr.  Roosevelt  replied : 
"Doctor,  I  am  going  to  do  all  the  things  you  tell  me 
not  to  do.  If  I've  got  to  live  the  sort  of  life  you 
have  described,  I  don't  care  how  short  it  is."  And 
he  proceeded  to  do  so,  and  in  spite  of  the  warning 
grew  a  sturdiness  of  body  and  spirit  that  simply  fed 
on  difficulties. 

He  steadily  followed  lines  of  hardihood  and  risk. 
He  built  his  spirit  as  he  did  his  body.  His  cowboy 
days  came  at  such  a  critical  time  in  his  life  and 
were  so  influential  in  "preparing"  him  that  they 
will  best  illustrate  the  school  in  which  he  trained. 
He  never,  even  at  the  last,  claimed  proficiency  in 
horseback  riding.  He  merely  sat  astride  the  most 
vicious  beast  with  the  same  gritty  grin  that  he 
"rode"  the  recalcitrant  politicians  when  that  was 
a  part  of  his  day's  work. 

One  day  a  wild  horse  jumped  a  fence  and  threw 
him  headlong.  His  arm  was  broken,  but  he  re 
mounted  and  did  not  notice  it  until  another  jolt 
caused  the  bones  to  slip  so  that  the  hand  dropped 
out  of  place.  At  another  time,  a  bucking  "devil" 
fell  backward  on  him  and  split  the  joint  of  his  shoul 
der.  But,  he  remarked,  "On  both  occasions  there 
was  nothing  to  do  but  remount  and  go  on,  for  often 
the  nearest  doctor  was  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
away." 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  79 

At  one  time,  while  herding  cattle,  he  was  in  the 
saddle  for  forty  straight  hours,  changing  horses  five 
times  and  going  through  a  rainstorm  which  kept 
him  wet  until  the  clothes  dried  on  his  back.  At  an 
other  time  he  rode  one  mount  for  twenty-four  hours 
but  at  a  slower  pace.  He  endured  hardness  as  a 
good  soldier. 

"Bill"  Sewall  insisted  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was 
always  "fair-minded."  He  early  trained  himself  to 
take  no  advantages,  and  even  under  exasperating 
circumstances  to  see  the  other  fellow's  side.  During 
a  stiff  boxing  bout  while  a  student  at  Harvard  time 
was  called  and  he  dropped  his  hands.  His  opponent 
instead  of  stopping  took  advantage  of  this  opening 
and  put  in  a  smashing  blow  that  brought  blood.  The 
onlookers  angrily  cried,  "Foul,"  and  would  have  mal 
treated  the  offender,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  rushed  up, 
shouting,  "He  didn't  hear.  He  didn't  hear,"  mean 
ing  the  "time"  call  of  the  referee.  He  was  fearless 
in  following  his  convictions  and  defending  his  rights. 

He  proved  to  the  cow  punchers  that  he  was  a 
"real"  fellow.  He  lived  on  their  "fare."  He  took 
orders  from  the  chief  of  the  drives  and  did  team 
work.  He  endured  their  privations  and  entered  into 
their  sympathies  and  grew  both  physically  and  in 
personality  betimes. 

He  became  a  stranger  to  fear.  The  Marquis  de 
Mores,  a  neighboring  ranchman  of  wealth,  who,  un 
like  Mr.  Roosevelt,  exploited  the  fact,  was  very 
jealous  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  very  ready  to  attribute 
wrong  motives  to  his  actions.  One  of  Mores'  men 
claimed  self-defense  in  a  murder  trial  while  one  of 


80  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  men  was  a  witness  to  disprove  the 
claim.  Mores  charged  Roosevelt  with  trying  to 
entangle  him  and  proposed  a  duel.  The  bluff  was 
called  and  rifles  at  twelve  paces  named — each  to  ad 
vance  one  pace  until  the  other  was  killed.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  detested  dueling,  but  he  knew  this  'would 
cure  the  bully;  and  it  did,  for  he  backed  down  and 
was  docile  afterward. 

While  Roosevelt  was  civil  service  commissioner, 
a  fellow  member  from  the  South,  who  always  carried 
a  revolver,  was  exasperatingly  obstructive  and  in 
sulting,  finally  threatening  gun  play.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
wrote  "Bill"  Sewall  that  he  recalled  the  Mores  inci 
dent  and  "called"  the  obstreperous  Southerner,  who 
quailed  in  the  same  way  as  did  the  former  "brawler." 

Thus  had  his  ranch  life  naturally  developed  a 
courage  which,  backed  by  a  sense  of  right,  ballasted 
by  rare  wisdom  and  untainted  by  selfishness,  made 
him  unafraid  of  the  "beasts"  or  "bullies"  at  Albany 
and  Washington. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  recognized  that  he  was  the  product 
of  all  these  educative  experiences.  He  remarked : 

"I  had  to  train  myself  painfully  and  laboriously  not 
merely  as  regards  my  body  but  as  regards  my  soul  and 
spirit." 

He  said  once  to  Mr.  Leary:  "My  experience  has 
been  that  the  man  who  does  not  do  his  work  is  the 
kind  who  abuses  his  health  and  if  alive,  is  not  much 
good  at  sixty,  or,  for  that  matter,  years  before." 

"There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,"  and  to 
the  Christian  it  is  not  blind.  The  believer  in  God 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  81 

recognizes  daily  events  as  signposts  and  follows  the 
directions.  There  are  no  accidents  in  a  divinely 
ordered  life.  Many  incidents  foretold  the  future  and 
helped  Mr.  Roosevelt  find  the  pathway. 

Mr.  Thayer,  a  fellow  student,  recalls  a  meeting  of 
the  Alpha  Delta  Phi,  in  Charles  Washburn's  room, 
when  Theodore  and  he  discussed  lifework  problems. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  affirmed:  "I  am  going  to  try  to  help 
the  cause  of  better  government  in  New  York  city; 
I  don't  know  exactly  how."  Mr.  Thayer  after  re 
called  the  fact  that  he  then  looked  at  him  sharply 
and  saying  inwardly,  "I  wonder  whether  he  is  the 
real  thing  or  only  the  bundle  of  eccentricities  which 
he  appears."1 

When  later  it  came  his  turn  to  prepare  a  paper 
for  the  literary  society  to  which  he  belonged,  he 
chose  for  his  subject,  "The  Machine  of  Politics." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  primarily  interested  in 
partisan  politics  but  finally  chose  a  party  because 
it  offered  the  best  obtainable  means  for  effective 
service.  While  his  father  was  a  Republican,  he  was 
so  independent  that  the  bosses  feared  him.  That 
party  had  been  so  long  in  power  that  corruption 
had  become  imbedded.  George  William  Curtis  led 
a  group  who  rebelled  at  partisanship  and  were  as  a 
result  insultingly  styled  "Mugwumps."  Mr.  Roose 
velt  joined  them  in  opposing  Elaine  and  came  near 
to  bolting  with  them.  He  was  never  a  narrow  parti 
san;  he  uncovered  corruption  in  the  "party"  and 
finally  cut  away  from  it  in  an  important  campaign. 
During  his  student  days  a  mock  election  for  Presi- 

lL\fe  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Thayer,  p.  20.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 
publishers. 


82  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

dent  was  held  with  Grant,  Sherman,  Elaine,  and 
Bayard  as  candidates.  His  classmates  say  that 
Roosevelt  voted  for  Senator  Bayard,  a  Democrat. 

While  in  college  he  refused  to  debate  on  the  side 
of  a  question  contrary  to  his  convictions  and  insisted 
that  such  debates  where  contestants  supported  a 
side  contrary  to  their  convictions  tended  to  develop 
insincerity  among  the  students  and  to  minimize  "in 
tensity  of  conviction."  They  were  prone,  he  in 
sisted,  to  become  careless  in  forming  or  valuing  well- 
founded  convictions. 

Unfortunately,  a  few  years  ago  a  college  training 
was  only  sought  by  those  expecting  to  become  pro 
fessional  men.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  again  providen 
tially  prepared,  for  he  expected  to  be  a  teacher,  and 
consequently  received  a  trained  mind  which  later 
fitted  him  to  be  a  more  capable  public  servant. 
Otherwise,  he  would  not  have  entered  Harvard  and 
so  would  have  lost  a  large  chain  of  helpful  influences. 

He  was  not  a  brilliant  student,  but  he  was  a  hard 
plodder.  Mr.  Thayer  says: 

He  did  fairly  well  in  several  unrelated  subjects  and 
achieved  eminence  in  one,  natural  science.  He  had  an  all- 
round  quality,  .  .  .  but  he  had  also  power  of  concentration 
and  thoroughness. 

Mrs.  Robinson  says  that  his  college  course  broad 
ened  him  but  it  also  gave  him  association  with  men 
of  his  own  age  which  had  before  been  impossible  be 
cause  of  his  delicacy  of  health. 

He  entered  the  military  competitions  held  on  the 
grounds  of  the  Watertown  Arsenal  but  never  drew 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  83 

any  prizes.  This  training,  however,  gave  him  a 
knowledge  of  military  affairs  which  served  him  well 
when  he  entered  the  Spanish  War. 

He  was  mysteriously  led  to  study  the  War  of  1812 
and  thus  to  write  a  history  of  the  navy  while  still 
a  student  in  Harvard.  This  gave  him  invaluable  in 
formation  in  preparing  him  for  the  organization 
work  he  did  as  assistant  secretary  of  the  navy, 
which  probably  insured  early  success  in  the  war  with 
Spain,  since  he  trained  the  men  to  shoot  straight, 
so  that  later  they  sunk  the  Spanish  fleet  very  quickly. 
He  selected  Dewey  and  gave  him  secret  orders  to 
capture  Manila.  At  the  time  he  took  the  position 
his  friends  had  advised  him  that  he  was  too  big  to 
accept  anything  but  a  Cabinet  position  and  that  it 
would  cheapen  him  to  be  merely  an  assistant — but  he 
saw  in  it  a  good  chance  to  "serve." 

Even  his  friendships  at  Harvard  were  predictive 
of  his  future.  From  childhood  he  always  carefully 
picked  his  associates,  thus  securing  unique  and 
varied  companions.  He  did  not  eat  at  Memorial 
Hall,  Harvard,  but  formed  a  private  boarding  club 
of  eight  which  held  together  for  the  full  four  years. 
Afterward  the  club  furnished  a  doctor,  a  lawyer,  a 
business  man,  a  cotton  broker,  a  railroad  man,  a 
corporation  head  (who  was  also  a  congressman),  an 
invalid,  and  a  President.  No  two  followed  the  same 
profession.  He  was  a  close  friend  of  George  Von  L. 
Meyer — later  his  Attorney-General.  He  opposed 
Robert  Bacon  for  captain  of  the  class  crew.  Bacon 
was  elected  anyway,  and  the  second  year  he  fought 
for  him,  quoting  Lincoln  about  not  swapping  horses 


84  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

in  the  middle  of  a  stream;  afterward  he  was  his 
Secretary  of  State.  Though  Leonard  Wood  was  a 
freshman  in  Medical  School  while  Theodore  was  a 
senior  in  Harvard,  yet  they  were  congenial  asso 
ciates.  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  was  an  instructor  in  his 
tory  whom  Theodore  at  first  disliked  because  he 
"marked  the  papers  too  hard"  but  afterward  joined 
in  an  early  political  contest.  Ex-Congressman 
Charles  A.  Washburne,  a  member  of  his  boarding 
club,  said,  "The  qualities  I  knew  in  the  boy  are  the 
qualities  most  observed  in  the  man."  A  little  while 
before  his  decease,  Mr.  Roosevelt  repeated  an  early 
and  prophetic  pledge :  "I  have  kept  the  promise  that 
I  made  to  myself  when  I  was  twenty-one.  That 
promise  was  to  live  my  life  to  the  hilt  until  I  was 
sixty,  and  I  have  kept  that  promise." 

Having  completed  college,  he  was  ready  for  the 
next  directive  influence.  It  came.  In  the  fall  of 
1881,  he  entered  the  law  school  of  Columbia  Univer 
sity.  He  studied  in  the  law  office  of  his  uncle,  Robert 
B.  Roosevelt,  who  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  70,  in  its  fight  against  Boss  Tweed  and  his  gang. 
This  uncle  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
and  had  been  at  one  time  minister  to  the  Netherlands. 
He  was  a  political  leader  of  aggressive  moral  con 
victions,  and  naturally  this  atmosphere  influenced 
Theodore.  George  Haven  Putnam  told  me  that  soon 
after  this  time  Theodore  became  a  special  partner  in 
the  publishing  house  of  that  name.  "He  brought  to 
me  a  multitude  of  publishing  plans,  for  the  most  part 
not  practical,  but  when  I  turned  them  down  he  took 
it  with  good  nature.  .  .  .  His  exuberant  and  sug- 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  85 

gestive  personality  so  near  me  made  it  impossible  to 
carry  on  my  correspondence/'  said  Major  Putnam. 
He  therefore  suggested  to  the  District  Republican 
Committee  that  "Roosevelt  would  make  an  excellent 
representative  in  the  Assembly."  This  led  to  his 
nomination,  and  in  great  delight  he  came  in  one 
Monday  with  the  nomination  made  and  said:  "I 
am  going  into  politics.  I  have  always  wanted  to 
have  a  chance  of  taking  hold  of  public  affairs." 
There  are  other  explanations  but  they  do  not  pre 
clude  this  one.  He  joined  the  local  Republican  Club 
and  to  beat  a  culpable  boss  he  agreed  to  "run"  when 
no  one  else  could  be  found,  at  the  request  of  "Joe" 
Murray. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  the  only  man  ever  elected  Presi 
dent  who  was  born  and  raised  in  a  great  city, 
except  W.  H.  Taft,  who  was  born  in  Cincinnati. 
City  life  is  not  conducive  to  health,  initiative,  or 
democratic  mixing,  though  it  may  furnish  the  best 
possible  school  for  the  study  of  humanity  to  the 
right-spirited  man.  Mr.  Roosevelt  turned  his  hin 
drance  into  a  help  by  appropriating  all  the  advan 
tages  of  the  city  and  then,  at  a  critical  time  in  his 
life,  going  into  the  far  West  to  take  a  postgraduate 
course  in  soul  culture.  His  body  was  far  from  ro 
bust.  His  "faith"  had  been  almost  shattered  by  the 
sudden  death  of  both  wife  and  mother.  He  had  been 
disgusted  with  the  condoned  corruption  among  the 
"respectable"  men  of  his  own  class.  He  had  been 
accustomed  to  an  ease  that  threatened  both  his 
vigor  and  his  democratic  bearing.  His  bent  toward 
a  literary  hermitage  was  growing.  There  was  no  un- 


86  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

usual  reason  why  he  should  go  West.  His  pilgrimage 
can  only  be  explained  by  a  belief  in  God's  leadership 
for  an  earnest  man  seeking  his  will.  The  Divine 
Hand  was  not  absent  in  his  selection  of  a  companion 
who  was  to  lead  him  out  of  his  slough  of  despond 
ency,  in  the  person  of  "Bill"  Sewall,  who  was 
brought  to  the  ranch  as  manager.  "Bill"  told  the 
writer:  "My  grandfather  was  a  minister.  One 
uncle  put  seven  boys  into  the  ministry.  My  own 
children  are  all  members  of  the  church."  "Bill," 
while  a  student  of  the  Bible,  was  not  a  formal  re 
ligionist,  but  had  a  hardy  faith  in  God,  a  noble  set 
of  plain  ideals,  and  a  rich  and  sweetened  common 
sense.  He  was  just  the  teacher  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
needed,  as  he  studied  in  God's  out-of-doors  amidst 
primitive  conditions  and  "nature-cured"  men.  Real 
men  of  the  plains  gave  deference  only  to  hardihood 
and  character.  "Roughing  it"  built  the  body,  cleared 
the  brain,  constructed  confidence,  and  destroyed 
softening  artificiality.  His  sorrow  sweetened  in 
stead  of  soured  and  God  spoke  out  of  the  bushes  in 
the  quiet  wilderness.  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a 
new  man  and  prepared  for  his  work  by  his  "herding" 
experience  even  as  was  Moses,  that  earlier  leader, 
who  passed  through  a  similar  experience. 

And  now  came  a  succession  of  tests  to  try  out 
his  grit,  his  humility,  and  his  ability.  And  he  passed 
muster.  First  he  met  defeat  for  mayor,  but  here  he 
gave  a  new  note  to  campaigning;  then  followed  ap 
pointment  to  the  undesirable  Civil  Service  Commis 
sion,  where  he  exhibited  a  revolutionizing  of 
public  office;  then  came  the  police  job  which  had 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  87 

"broken"  every  man  who  undertook  it  but  in  which 
he  inaugurated  a  new  day  for  civic  government; 
then  he  accepted  the  assistant  secretaryship  of  the 
navy  when  he  was  big  enough  for  a  Cabinet  appoint 
ment  and  was  able  to  use  his  college-day  researches ; 
then  he  insisted  on  being  a  subordinate,  lieu 
tenant-colonel,  in  the  Rough  Riders,  from  which  he 
arose  to  notable  military  efficiency.  At  last  he 
seems  to  have  been  recognized,  for  he  was  elected 
Governor.  (He  was  elected  to  office  only  three  times 
after  his  legislative  days  during  his  whole  career.) 
But  again  his  humility  was  to  be  tested  and  he  is 
"shelved"  by  being  made  Vice-President.  To  pre 
pare  for  a  possible  future,  he  used  even  this  "decora 
tive"  office  by  starting  a  law  course  under  Justice 
White,  but  once  more  man  proposed  but  God  dis 
posed,  and  at  last  he  came  to  the  highest  place  of 
influence.  But  even  there  he  must  "fight  a  good 
fight,"  and  was  destined  later  to  stand  almost  alone 
amidst  seeming  defeat.  He  literally  inherited  the 
promise :  "Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things, 
I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things"  (Matt. 
25.  21).  Is  there  any  man  so  wise  that  he  dare  af 
firm  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not,  day  by  day,  see  the 
hand  of  God  in  all  these  preparatory  steps  and  so 
rest  confidently  in  the  outcome,  no  matter  what  ap 
parent  defeats  came? 

Bill  Sewall  said  to  the  writer : 

When  Theodore  lost  his  wife  and  mother  it  almost  un 
balanced  his  mind.  But  he  never  noticed  or  was  affected 
by  the  loss  of  material  things.  We  lost  one  half  of  our 
cattle  by  drought,  snow,  and  the  unfair  tactics  of  the  big 


88  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

herd  owners.  He  lost  nearly  $50,000  by  the  ranch  venture. 
But  he  was  never  blue  or  complained  about  that.  He  di 
vided  all  the  profits  but  endured  all  the  losses  alone.  He 
had  absolutely  no  instinct  for  money.  He  allowed  that  to 
die  while  he  developed  instead  the  instinct  for  service 
which  alone  appealed  to  him.  He  expected  to  stay  on  the 
ranch  permanently  when  he  first  came.  But  God  had  other 
plans.  When  he  left  the  ranch  he  was  clear  bone,  muscle, 
and  grit  and  physically  strong  enough  to  be  anything  he 
wanted  to  be  from  President  down. 

While  President,  he  journeyed  to  Yellowstone 
Park  with  John  Burroughs  for  a  brief  vacation  and 
rest.  He  left  his  secretary,  physician,  and  secret 
service  men  outside  the  Park.  Then,  one  quiet  day, 
he  requested  the  privilege  of  tramping  off  into  a 
solitude  to  spend  the  day  all  alone.  How  did  he 
spend  such  times  ?  No  one  can  declare  dogmatically 
but  a  conclusion  may  be  safely  drawn  from  one  in 
cident  related  to  me  by  Mr.  Leary: 

While  campaigning  in  Canton,  Ohio,  Mr.  Roosevelt  sud 
denly  disappeared  and  a  reporter  who  told  me  about  it 
finally  found  him  kneeling  beside  the  grave  of  William 
McKinley. 

When  I  related  this  incident  to  Dr.  Lambert,  he  said, 
"I  could  well  believe  that  to  be  true  from  my  knowl 
edge  of  him."  He  believed  in  God.  Why  should  he 
not  go  apart  to  take  stock  of  his  spiritual  supplies 
and  test  his  relationship  to  God?  Elijah  found  that 
the  still  small  voice  of  direction  followed  the  "strong 
wind,"  the  earthquake,  and  the  fire.  Why  should 
other  prophets  be  deprived  of  equal  assurance  and 
guidance  when  sorrows  and  storms  shake  their  souls  ? 


PROVIDENTIALLY  PREPARED  89 

\ 

If  so,  then  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  such  solaces.  It  was 
written  of  Moses  "like  one  who  saw  the  King  In 
visible  he  never  flinched"  (Moffatt  translation). 
That  fact  can  alone  explain  the  life  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS 

"If  a  man  lives  a  decent  life  and  does  his  work  fairly  and 
squarely  so  that  those  dependent  on  him  and  attached  to 
him  are  better  for  his  having  lived  then  he  is  a  success." — 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation:  but  sin  is  a  reproach 
to  any  people.  Prov.  14.  34. 


TO  Mr.  Roosevelt  the  very  contest  for  the  right 
was  a  knightly  joust  which  itself  gave  thrill 
and  joy.     In  an  address  he  once  said,  "Ag 
gressive  fighting  for  the  right  is  the  noblest  sport 
the  world  knows."     He  entered  his  campaigns  in 
this  spirit  and  turned  life  into  a  game  where  he  did 
serious  business  with  a  happy  heart. 

He  developed  an  instinct  for  right  as  an  artist 
would  the  aesthetic  nature  or  the  mother  the  ability 
to  intuitively  interpret  the  needs  of  her  child.  John 
Burroughs  relates  a  carefully  planned  attempt  of 
political  opponents  at  Albany  to  besmirch  his 
character. 

He  was  not  caught.  His  innate  rectitude  and  instinct 
for  the  right  course  saved  him  as  it  has  saved  him  many 
times  since.  I  do  not  think  that  in  any  emergency  he  has 
to  debate  with  himself  long  as  to  the  right  course  to  be 
pursued;  he  divines  it  by  a  kind  of  infallible  instinct. 

As  a  "disciple"  he  had  a  right  to  claim  the  prom 
ise  that  the  Spirit  would  guide  "into  all  truth." 

90 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS     91 

When'Elihu  Koot  left  his  Cabinet,  though  a  very 
undemonstrative  man,  he  wrote  Mr.  Roosevelt:  "I 
shall  always  be  happy  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 
administration  directed  by  your  sincere  and  rugged 
adherence  to  right  and  devotion  to  the  trust  of  our 
country." 

Senator  Lodge  said : 

Roosevelt  was  always  advancing,  always  struggling  to 
make  things  better.  .  .  .  He  looked  always  for  an  ethical 
question.  He  was  at  his  best  when  he  was  fighting  the 
battle  of  right  against  wrong. 

Senator  Beveridge  said:  "Those  who  were 
near  Colonel  Roosevelt  knew  .  .  .  that  .  .  .  the  mo 
tive  power  within  him  was  always  ethical  convic 
tion." 

Eugene  Thwing,  after  saying,  "The  strength  of 
truth  was  always  the  one  secret  of  Roosevelt's  great 
power,"  quotes  him  as  saying :  "We  scorn  the  man 
who  would  not  stand  for  justice  though  the  whole 
world  come  in  arms  against  him." 

Jacob  Riis  reports  a  lady  who  said: 

I  always  wanted  to  make  Roosevelt  out  as  a  living  em 
bodiment  of  high  ideals,  but  somehow  every  time  he  did 
something  that  seemed  really  great,  it  turned  out,  upon 
looking  at  it  seriously,  that  it  was  only  just  the  right  thing 
to  do. 

Lemuel  Quigg  was  told,  when  he  came  as  Platt's 
messenger  to  question  Roosevelt  concerning  his  at 
titude  if  he  became  Governor,  that  he  would  try  to 
get  on  with  the  organization,  but  that  he  would  ex- 


92  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

pect  the  organization  to  be  equally  sincere  in  helping 
when  he  was  trying  to  do  something  for  the  public 
good.  In  a  stiff  controversy,  he  said,  later : 

I  know  that  you  did  not  in  any  way  wish  to  represent 
me  as  willing  to  consent  to  act  otherwise  than  in  ac 
cordance  with  my  conscience;  indeed,  you  said  you  knew 
that  I  would  be  incapable  of  acting  save  with  good  faith 
to  the  people  at  large. 

Vice  President  Coolidge  said,  in  an  address  in  New 
York :  "Theodore  Roosevelt  never  lapsed.  He  was 
against  what  he  believed  to  be  wrong  everywhere." 

While  riding  the  range  with  one  of  his  own  cow 
boys,  during  the  Dakota  days,  he  came  across  an 
unbranded  maverick  which  his  cowboy  caught, 
threw,  and  was  about  to  mark  with  the  Roosevelt 
brand.  Mr.  Roosevelt  thereupon  discharged  the  boy, 
who  protested  that  he  was  working  in  the  interests 
of  his  boss,  and  received  the  reply,  "Yes,  my  friend, 
and  if  you  will  steal  for  me,  you  will  steal  from  me." 

He  was  always  fearful  in  receiving  financial  re 
muneration  lest  he  would  not  render  commensurate 
service.  When  Lawrence  Abbott  closed  the  contract 
for  him  to  begin  his  services  with  The  Outlook,  at 
$12,000  a  year — a  good  salary  for  The  Outlook  to 
pay  but  only  one  tenth  of  what  other  concerns  of 
fered — he  put  his  arm  around  Lawrence  and  said, 
"Now  that  is  very  good  of  you,  Lawrence,  but  do 
you  really  think  you  can  afford  it?"  He  refused  to 
sign  a  contract  with  the  Metropolitan  Magazine  at 
first  because  he  could  not  see  how  a  monthly  periodi 
cal  could  profitably  pay  what  they  offered  him  for 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OP  SUCCESS  93 

an  article  every  thirty  days.    He  insisted,  "I  do  not 
like  being  in  the  position  of  not  being  able  to  de 
liver  full  value,"  and  he  signed  only  when  convinced. 
Gerald  Lee  wrote  of  Mr.  Roosevelt : 

Other  men  have  done  things  that  were  good  to  do,  but 
the  very  inmost  muscle  and  marrow  of  goodness  itself, 
goodness  with  teeth,  with  a  fist,  goodness  that  smiled,  that 
ha-ha'd,  that  leaped  and  danced — perpetual  motion  of 
goodness,  goodness  that  reeked — has  been  reserved  for 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  has  been  a  colossal  drummer  of 
goodness.  He  has  proved  himself  a  master  salesman  of 
moral  values. 

This  sturdy  personality  was  not  an  accident.  The 
skyscraper  stands  because  rooted  in  the  eternal 
rocks  and  fibered  by  highly  tempered  steel  ribs.  He 
founded  his  life  on  the  Rock  of  Ages  and  steel-ribbed 
his  personality  by  moral  standards  of  finest  metal 
highly  tempered  in  the  fires  of  hottest  testings.  He 
accepted  no  substitutes  nor  permitted  flawed  ma 
terials  to  go  into  the  structure.  And  so  he  stood, 
tall  and  strong,  in  the  sunshine  of  approval  or  in  the 
storm  of  most  bitter  vituperation. 

Character  is  to  right  what  brain  is  to  thinking. 
Men  easily  and  loftily  assert  that  religion  to  them 
is  contained  in  the  Golden  Rule.  But  it  is  a  com 
plex  thing  to  apply  it  to  daily  problems.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  once  said  about  one  phase  of  its  application : 

The  Golden  Rule  means  that  we  ought  to  treat  every  man 
and  woman  as  we  ought  to  like  to  be  treated  ourselves. 
I  say  "ought  to  like"  and  not  merely  "like,"  for  it  cer 
tainly  does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  divorce  unselfishness 
from  foresight,  common  sense  and  common  honesty. 


94  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

At  another  time,  in  speaking  of  his  intricate  work 
at  Albany,  he  said: 

If  I  am  sure  a  thing  is  right  or  wrong,  why,  then  I 
know  how  to  act;  but  lots  of  times  there  is  a  little  of  both 
on  each  side,  and  then  it  becomes  mighty  puzzling  to  know 
the  exact  course  to  follow. 

A  scholar  is  not  made  by  two  years  or  ten  years 
of  study  but  by  a  lifetime  of  study.  A  good  man  is 
built  in  the  same  way  by  a  lifetime  of  watching, 
seeking  advice,  following  the  inner  light  and  seeking 
more,  and  having  found  the  right  to  fight  for  it  every 
time  to  the  death.  To  be  equipped  to  know  and  to 
do  the  right  is  a  big  task.  It  cost  Mr.  Roosevelt  as 
much  to  get  this  ability  as  it  does  anyone  else.  Only 
the  shallow  slide  through  life  with  ease. 

The  Israelites  only  blew  away  the  hulk  of  nations 
decayed  by  wickedness  when  they  destroyed  the 
tribes  on  their  march  to  the  promised  land.  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt  believed  that  he  was  a  prophet  warn 
ing  America  against  the  fate  of  these  people  and  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  so  he  urged  the  nation  to  ob 
serve  the  laws  of  right  as  the  sine  qua  non  of  ex 
istence.  He  therefore  enforced  righteousness  in  the 
same  spirit  that  a  patriot  fought  for  the  flag  when 
it  was  in  danger.  This  was  an  early  ideal  and  is 
enforced  in  his  "Oliver  Cromwell" — where  he  in 
sists  that  a  nation  loses  its  liberty  by  "licentiousness 
no  less  than  by  servility."  This  sin,  he  insists,  is  a 
sign  of  lost  self-control  and  is  therefore  no  different 
than  if  the  helplessness  sprang  from  a  "craven  dis 
trust  of  its  own  powers." 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS  95 

He  was  very  explicit  here  in  naming  a  sin  which 
is  commonly  condoned  as  the  privilege  of  the  free 
but  which  the  world  now  learns  brings  the  worst 
affliction  known  to  the  flesh. 

Nothing  could  divert  his  assaults  on  dangerous 
practices.  Patriotic  thrills  were  stirring  a  meeting 
at  Madison  Square  Garden  held  to  welcome  the 
representatives  of  the  sane  republic  which  imme 
diately  followed  the  overthrow  of  the  Czar  in  Russia. 
A  few  days  before,  a  number  of  innocent  Negroes 
brought  into  Saint  Louis  as  strike  breakers  had 
been  mobbed  and  murdered  by  white  strikers.  When 
Mr.  Roosevelt  spoke,  he  arraigned  the  Saint  Louis 
rioters  in  no  uncertain  manner.  He  declared  that 
when  Americans  extend  greetings  to  the  representa 
tives  of  a  "new"  republic,  we  should  at  the  same 
time  explain  to  them  that  such  lawlessness  as  ap 
peared  in  East  Saint  Louis  is  thoroughly  criminal. 
The  life  destroying  riots  were  as  inexcusable,  he 
insisted,  even  though  they  were  Negroes,  as  were  the 
outbreaks  upon  the  Jews  in  Czar-ruled  Russia.  He 
declared  that  since  this  conviction  was  upon  him, 
he  could  not  keep  silent,  he  must  express  condemna 
tion  for  such  deeds  "that  give  the  lie  to  our  words 
within  our  own  country." 

When  Mr.  Gompers  followed  he  undertook  to  ex 
cuse  the  rioters  because  employers  were  warned 
against  bringing  in  Negro  strike-breakers.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  was  aroused  and  amidst  a  divided  audi 
ence,  he  arose  again  and  protested  that  similar  ex 
cuses  had  been  made  by  the  Russian  autocracy  for 
the  pogroms  of  Jews.  And  then  amidst  Gompers' 


96  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

further  explanations  and  much  commotion,  he  right 
eously  shouted: 

Oh,  friends,  we  have  gathered  to  greet  the  men  and 
women  of  New  Russia,  a  republic  founded  on  the  principles 
of  justice  to  all.  On  such  an  evening  never  will  I  sit  mo 
tionless  while  directly  or  indirectly  apology  is  made  for 
the  murder  of  the  helpless. 

Some  questioned  the  delicacy  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  ac 
tions,  but  such  a  situation  could  not  be  handled 
with  gloves,  and  he  merely  used  the  weapons  at  hand 
to  assail  an  un-American  doctrine.  He  always  did 
that  whether  he  struck  capitalist  or  laborite. 

As  early  as  1894,  in  writing  on  the  "Manly  Virtues 
and  Practical  Politics,"  he  said: 

No  amount  of  intelligence  and  no  amount  of  energy  will 
save  a  nation  which  is  not  honest,  and  no  government  can 
ever  be  a  permanent  success  if  administered  in  accordance 
with  base  ideals. 

He  developed  the  idea  later  in  an  article  in  The  Out 
look: 

The  foreign  policy  of  a  great  and  self-respecting  country 
should  be  conducted  on  exactly  the  same  plane  of  honor,  of 
insistence  upon  one's  own  rights,  and  of  respect  for  the 
rights  of  others,  that  marks  the  conduct  of  a  brave  and 
honorable  man  when  dealing  with  his  fellows. 

From  his  address  at  Christiania,  Norway,  on  his 
return  from  Africa  under  the  subject  of  "Peace,"  it 
seems  fair  to  conclude  that  he  favored  some  kind  of 
association  of  nations,  for  he  said : 

It  would  be  a  master  stroke  if  those  great  Powers  hon- 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS     97 

estly  bent  on  peace  would  form  a  League  of  Peace,  not  only 
to  keep  the  peace  among  themselves  but  to  prevent  by 
force,  if  necessary,  its  being  broken  by  others.  Each  na 
tion  must  keep  well  prepared  to  defend  itself  until  the 
establishment  of  some  form  of  international  police  power 
competent  and  willing  to  prevent  violence  as  between  na 
tions. 

He  insisted  that  the  "commonplace  virtues"  alone 
insure  the  perpetuity  of  a  nation: 

No  prosperity  and  no  glory  can  save  a  nation  that  is 
rotten  at  heart.  We  must  .  .  .  see  to  it  that  not  only  our 
citizens  in  private  life,  but  above  all,  our  statesmen  in 
public  life,  practice  the  old  commonplace  virtues  which 
from  time  immemorial  have  lain  at  the  root  of  all  true  na 
tional  well-being  (American  Ideals,  Gilder,  p.  271). 

In  an  address  at  Grant's  birthplace,  Galena,  Il 
linois,  in  April,  1900,  he  said,  concerning  the  power 
of  the  nation  to  produce  men  like  Lincoln  and  Grant 
to  meet  future  crises  of  the  nation: 

The  men  we  need  are  the  men  of  strong,  earnest,  solid 
character — the  men  who  possess  the  homely  virtues,  and 
who  to  these  virtues  add  rugged  courage,  rugged  honesty, 
and  high  resolve. 

Explaining  his  rule  in  appointing  men  to  office,  he 
said: 

If  I  am  in  such  doubt  about  an  applicant's  character  and 
fitness  for  office  as  would  lead  me  not  to  put  my  private 
affairs  in  his  hands,  then  I  shall  not  put  public  affairs  in 
his  hands. 

A  well-known  Democrat  was  working  hard  for  the 


98  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

passage  of  some  righteous  bills  when  Governor 
Roosevelt,  who  was  helping  him  to  get  them  enacted, 
was  warned  that  in  thus  doing  he  was  aiding  the 
author,  Mr.  Coler,  to  strengthen  himself  as  a  rival 
candidate  for  Governor.  He  replied,  "Maybe  so,  but 
he  is  right  and  he  is  going  to  have  those  bills  if  I 
can  get  them  through  the  Legislature  for  him." 

In  his  Pacific  Theological  Lectures,  he  said:  "I 
ask  you  people  here,  whatever  your  politics  may  be, 
to  be  nonpartisan  when  the  question  of  honesty  is 
involved."  And  again: 

One  great  realizable  ideal  for  our  people  is  to  discourage 
mere  law  honesty.  .  .  .  The  best  laws  and  the  most  rigid 
enforcement  will  not  by  themselves  produce  a  really  healthy 
type  of  morals  in  the  community.  In  addition  we  must 
have  the  public  opinion  which  frowns  on  the  man  who 
violates  the  spirit  of  the  law  even  although  he  keeps  within 
the  letter  (Realizable  Ideals,  p.  24). 

That  is  a  bit  similar  to  the  Master's  declarations 
concerning  the  "legal"  dodges  of  the  Pharisees.  Such 
actions  eat  out  the  very  fiber  of  fine  citizenship. 
Crooks  still  wear  the  livery  of  "legality"  and  respec 
tability. 

He  rightly  concluded  that  dishonesty  was  a 
rapidly  multiplying  disease  germ  that  made  its 
willing  victim  an  unreliable  citizen,  and  so  he  says 
in  the  same  lecture: 

The  minute  that  a  man  is  dishonest  along  certain  lines, 
even  though  he  pretends  to  be  honest  along  other  lines, 
you  can  be  sure  that  it  is  only  a  pretense,  it  is  only  ex 
pediency;  and  you  cannot  trust  to  the  mere  sense  of  ex 
pediency  to  hold  a  man  straight  under  heavy  pressure 
(Realizable  Ideals,  pp.  97,  98). 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS     99 

Believing  that  moral  disorders  were  as  dangerous 
to  the  nation  as  infectious  sores  were  to  the  indi 
vidual,  he  had  no  patience  with  anyone  who  claimed 
to  know  about  corruption  in  public  life  and  then 
went  no  further  than  to  deal  in  innuendoes.  When, 
therefore,  a  noted  free-lance  author  made  general 
charges  against  the  government  in  a  novel,  he  sent 
for  him  and  said : 

We  shall  have  a  government  investigation;  if  your 
charges  are  right,  I  will  change  the  conditions;  if  you 
haven't  got  the  facts,  I  will  brand  you  as  a  liar  to  the 
American  people. 

On  entering  the  Legislature  he  believed  that  the 
prominent  men  who  moved  in  the  same  circle  with 
and  were  friends  of  his  father  were  opposed  to  po 
litical  corruption.  He  was  rudely  awakened  to  find 
that  many  "respectable"  citizens  were  mixed  up  in 
crooked  politics  as  well  as  in  crooked  business  and 
defended  it  as  "practical."  Political  graft  was  con 
doned  all  over  America.  But  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a 
Daniel  born  for  this  hour,  and  he  knew  not  how  to 
grow  strong  on  such  "meat"  as  the  henchmen  served. 
He  was  Jehovah's  man  and  accepted  his  menu. 

When  full  grown  he  came  to  power  and  imme 
diately  made  efforts  to  save  his  country  by  reading 
the  foreboding  signs  of  the  times  and  commanding 
repentance. 

A  corrupt  judge  had  written  a  prominent  financier 
that  he  was  "willing  to  go  to  the  very  verge  of  ju 
dicial  discretion  to  serve  'your  vast  interests.7  "  Mr. 
Koosevelt  introduced  a  resolution  to  impeach  him 


100  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

by  name  and  arraigned  the  Attorney-General  for 
neglect  of  duty.  The  Republican  leader  asked  that 
the  resolution  be  defeated,  since  reputations  had  been 
ruined  in  this  way,  and  he  wanted  to  give  young  Mr. 
Roosevelt  time  to  think  before  pushing  his  loose 
charges.  That  night  "wise"  friends  advised  the 
young  legislator  to  subside.  But  he  only  set  his 
jaws  and  each  day  appeared  on  the  floor  with  new 
motions  and  facts  and  regularly  furnished  the  papers 
additional  material.  This  aroused  the  State;  and  in 
spite  of  vilification  and  abuse,  the  young  man 
whipped  the  evil  forces,  and  the  resolution  passed 
by  a  big  vote. 

Everything  else  failing,  the  bosses  endeavored  to 
cow  Mr.  Roosevelt  by  hiring  a  big  bully  to  beat  him 
up.  One  evening  as  he  was  leaving  the  old  Delavan 
House,  where  the  legislators  congregated,  a  hired 
thug,  "Stubby"  Lewis,  coming  out  with  a  noisy 
crowd,  collided  with  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  angrily 
asked  why  he  ran  into  him.  Before  Mr.  Roosevelt 
could  answer,  the  bully  struck  out,  but  the  blow 
never  landed,  for  the  trained  boxer  had  soon  given 
"Stubby"  the  beating  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  greatly  aided  by  the  newspapers 
and  favored  them  in  every  possible  way.  But  he 
fearlessly  assailed  a  type  which  he  believed  was  do 
ing  great  harm : 

Yellow  journalism  deifies  the  cult  of  the  mendacious,  the 
sensational,  and  the  inane,  and  throughout  its  wide  but 
vapid  field  does  as  much  to  vulgarize  and  degrade  the 
popular  conscience  as  any  influence  under  which  the  coun 
try  can  suffer.  These  men  sneer  at  the  very  idea  of  pay- 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF-  £UC€*}SS         '101 

ing  heed  to  the  dictates  of  a  sound  morality;  as  one  of 
their  number  has  cynically  put  it,  they  are  concerned  merely 
with  selling  the  public  whatever  the  public  will  buy — a 
theory  of  conduct  which  would  justify  the  existence  of 
every  keeper  of  an  opium  den,  of  every  foul  creature  who 
ministers  to  the  vices  of  mankind.1 

After  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first  term  in  the  Legislature, 
when  it  was  found  that  he  could  be  neither  con 
trolled  nor  cowed,  an  old  friend  of  the  family  took 
the  young  man  out  to  lunch  and  gave  him  fatherly 
advice. 

He  explained  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  he  had  demon 
strated  in  the  legislature  that  he  had  unusual  ability 
or  he  could  not  "have  made  the  reform  play"  so 
effectively.  Then  he  warned  Mr.  Roosevelt  not  to 
"overplay  your  hand"  and  that  to  stop  now  was  to 
insure  himself  an  influential  position  in  business  or 
law.  He  could  thus  join  the  "people"  who  "control 
others"  and  corral  the  real  "rewards."  He  was  thus 
advised  to  get  out  of  politics  and  join  the  aristo 
cratic  group  with  whom  he  belonged. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  asked  some  direct  questions  and 
found  that  the  political  ring  was  merely  the  puppet 
of  a  few  rich  men  who  really  ran  the  country. 
Hence  he  came  away  more  determined  than  ever  to 
fight  this  "system,"  which  was  as  dangerous  and 
deadly  as  the  Czarism  of  Russia. 

When  he  was  enforcing  the  law  for  Sunday  closing, 
many  were  fearful  lest  when  crime  long  condoned 
in  the  saloon  was  checked,  revolution  might  result, 
even  as  they  predicted  over  the  enforcement  of  pro- 
Lawrence  Abbott,  Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  p.  28. 


1G2  ROOSEVELT'S  KELIGION 

hibition.  And  so  all  classes,  including  some  timid 
good  people,  pleaded  with  him  to  go  slow  and  use 
discretion.  But  he  would  not  compromise  and  re 
plied  that  there  was  nothing  about  discretion  in  his 
oath  of  office  and  quoted  Abraham  Lincoln's  words : 

Let  reverence  of  law  be  taught  in  schools  and  colleges,  be 
written  in  primers  and  spelling-books,  be  published  from 
pulpits  and  proclaimed  in  legislative  houses,  and  enforced 
in  the  courts  of  justice — in  short,  let  it  become  the  po 
litical  religion  of  the  nation. 

And  he  went  straight  on,  fearlessly  enforcing  the 
law  amidst  abuse,  threats,  and  often  great  loneli 
ness. 

Crooked  business  always  thrives  by  assigning 
rigid  righteousness  to  the  realm  of  the  impractical. 
He  hit  it  when  he  said:  "If  there  is  one  thing  I 
dislike,  it  is  the  expression,  'Business  is  business/ 
especially  when  it  verges  on  rascality."  He  again 
punctured  the  plea  for  preferential  treatment  made 
by  "business": 

The  outcry  against  stopping  dishonest  practices  among 
the  very  wealthy  is  precisely  similar  to  the  outcry  raised 
against  every  effort  for  cleanliness  and  decency  in  city 
government,  because,  forsooth,  it  will  "hurt  business." 

Business  interests  have  always  demanded  special 
consideration,  falsely  claiming  that  commercial  pros 
perity  insured  happiness  and  security.  The  moral 
diseases  which  destroyed  Rome  were  nurtured  amidst 
"business"  prosperity.  A  plastering  salve  will  not 
check  the  growth  of  a  cancer;  it  requires  a  knife. 

Germany  would  have  secured  a  strangle  hold  on 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS          103 

America  long  ago  if  it  had  not  been  for  President 
Koosevelt's  fearless  devotion  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
when  blind  "business"  endeavored  to  dull  our  eyes 
to  the  facts.  Mr.  Koosevelt  tells  us  that  when  he 
forced  Germany  to  withdraw  from  South  America : 

Many  of  them,  including  bankers,  merchants,  and  rail 
way  magnates,  criticized  the  action  of  the  President  and 
the  Senate,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  caused  business  dis 
turbance.  Such  a  position  is  essentially  ignoble.  When 
a  question  of  national  honor  or  of  national  right  or  wrong 
is  at  stake,  no  question  of  financial  interest  should  be  con 
sidered  for  a  moment.  Those  wealthy  men  who  wish  the 
abandonment  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  because  its  assertion 
may  damage  their  business  bring  discredit  to  themselves, 
and  so  far  as  they  are  able,  discredit  to  the  nation  of  which 
they  are  a  part. 

When  praised  for  his  independent  courage  which 
led  him  unaided  and  unadvised  to  undertake  a  peace 
treaty  between  warring  Kussia  and  Japan,  he  mini 
mized  success  as  the  sign  of  the  Tightness  of  an  act. 
In  a  letter  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Longworth,  he  tells 
her  that  he  would  have  been  laughed  at  and  con 
demned  if  he  had  failed  to  bring  peace,  but  now  that 
he  was  successful  he  was  overpraised  and  credited 
with  being  "extremely  long-headed,"  when,  in  fact, 
events  so  shaped  themselves  that  "I  would  have  felt 
as  if  I  were  flinching  from  a  plain  duty  if  I  had  acted 
otherwise."  At  another  time  he  said  to  Mr.  Payne : 

I  often  get  credit  for  unusual  wisdom,  when  the  fact  is 
that  I  always  do  what  is  right,  and  that  turns  out  so  well 
that  they  credit  it  to  political  sagacity.  Right  gives  light 
that  some  men  credit  to  other  causes. 


104  KOOSEVEI/TS  RELIGION 

Mr.  Koosevelt  wrote  "Bill"  Sewall  six  months 
after  assuming  the  governorship,  assuring  him  that 
it  took  as  much  courage  to  fill  his  office  as  it  did  to 
go  up  San  Juan  Hill. 

And  he  went  against  wrong  so  intrenched  that 
only  a  man  inspired  and  armored  by  God  would  dare 
to  attack  it.  To  him  right  was  as  vital  as  the  heart 
is  to  life.  He  wrote  a  friend  that  when  he  came  into 
the  police  department,  "both  promotions  and  ap 
pointments  were  made  almost  solely  for  money,  and 
the  prices  were  discussed  with  cynical  frankness." 
The  big  Tammany  leaders  never  even  denied  the 
newly  announced  agreement  whereby  the  saloons 
were  promised  immunity  from  blackmail,  until  they 
paid  the  police  in  cash,  for  the  privilege  of  remain 
ing  open  on  Sunday,  provided  that  in  the  future  they 
rendered  absolute  political  support.  Governor  Hill, 
seriously  considered  as  a  candidate  for  President, 
condoned  the  passing  of  a  Sunday  closing  law  which 
was  to  be  used,  Mr.  Koosevelt  openly  charged,  for 
purposes  of  graft. 

As  shown  when  he  "beat  up"  the  hired  thug,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  was  ready  to  meet  his  opponents  with 
physical  courage  which  he  had  built  up  for  use  when 
that  was  necessary.  One  day  he  secured  the  heavy 
leg  of  a  chair  and  laid  it  close  at  hand  while  he 
presided  over  a  committee  accredited  to  be  corrupt. 
When  they  refused  to  report  out  a  worthy  bill  either 
favorably  or  unfavorably  because  they  first  de 
manded  pay,  he  arose,  put  the  bill  in  his  pocket  and 
said  he  would  report  it.  Angry  murmurs  over  lost 
pelf  arose,  but  with  the  chair  leg  grasped  in  his 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS         105 

hand,  he  walked  calmly  out  of  the  room  un 
molested. 

When  the  Legislature,  because  it  was  controlled 
by  the  corporations,  refused  to  pass  his  franchise 
tax  bill,  he  sent  a  message  to  the  Speaker,  who  tore 
it  up  in  his  messenger's  face.  He  sent  a  duplicate 
and  warned  the  Speaker  that  if  it  was  not  read  by 
him,  it  would  be  read  from  the  floor  by  some  member, 
and  if  that  plan  failed  then  he  himself  would  come 
and  read  it.  After  that  it  was  read,  and  the  bill 
passed. 

Dean  Lewis  describes  his  calling  at  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  office  while  he  was  assistant  secretary  of  the 
navy.  He  found  Mr.  Koosevelt  in  spirited  conver 
sation  and  tried  to  hastily  withdraw.  He  recalled 
him,  however,  and  he  recognized  the  one  being  lec 
tured  as  a  prominent  lawyer  and  an  officeholder  in 
a  former  administration.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  ar 
raigning  him  vigorously  for  selling  the  government 
a  rotten  ship  and  trying  to  sell  another.  When  the 
lawyer  tried  to  mention  his  clients,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
said,  "I  congratulate  them  on  having  an  attorney 
who  will  do  work  for  them  which  they  wouldn't  have 
the  face  to  do  for  themselves."  Then  telling  him 
that  the  boat  already  bought  was  worthless,  he  adds, 
"It  will  be  God's  mercy  if  she  doesn't  go  down  with 
brave  men  on  her — men  who  go  to  war  to  risk  their 
lives,  instead  of  staying  home  to  sell  rotten  hulks  to 
the  government."  That  was  a  sample  of  many 
"dressings"  given  to  "respectable"  crooks.  He  had 
an  uncanny  way  of  uncovering  evil  trails. 

But  with  it  all  he  kept  his  sweetness  of  nature  and 


106  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

his  gentleness  of  heart.  Rudyard  Kipling  might 
well  cable,  "For  me  it  is  as  if  Bunyan's  'Great-Heart' 
had  died  in  the  midst  of  battle." 

He  believed  that  laws  should  be  righteous  and  then 
nothing  should  excuse  their  non-enforcement.  He 
knew  no  exceptions  and  so  he  enforced  the  Sunday 
saloon  law  in  New  York.  Under  a  new  enactment 
the  mayor  was  empowered  to  remove  the  Tammany- 
controlled  magistrates.  Mayor  Strong  did  so,  and 
the  new  ones  were  to  be  seated  Monday,  July  1.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  announced,  amidst  the  speechless  conster 
nation  of  saloonists  and  the  stiff  opposition  of  most 
of  the  people  and  the  active  support  of  almost  none, 
that  on  Sunday,  June  30,  the  saloons  must  close. 
The  results  were  amazing  under  his  relentless  pur 
pose  and  skillful  management.  Benefits  were  every 
where  reported.  As  a  result,  Sunday-closing  cam 
paigns  spread  over  the  nation  and  everywhere 
brought  better  conditions.  This  helped  show  the 
possibilities  of  a  dry  nation  and  so  aided  national 
prohibition. 

Chauncey  Depew  claims  to  have  won  the  bosses 
over  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  for  gover 
nor.  The  discovery  that  one  million  of  the  nine  set 
apart  to  build  canals  had  been  stolen  convinced 
Platt  that  the  party  was  doomed.  Depew,  called  into 
conference,  was  told  that  Odell  had  suggested  Roose 
velt  and  Platt  objected,  "He  has  always  been  un 
controllable  either  by  the  party  organization  or  his 
superiors,  and  I  am  afraid  he  might  be  most  dan 
gerous  to  our  organization."  Depew  replied :  "He 
is  the  only  man  you  can  elect.  When  the  heckler 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS          107 

asks  about  the  theft  of  a  million  dollars,  I  will  reply, 
'We  have  nominated  for  Governor  the  greatest  thief- 
catcher  there  is  in  the  world.  As  police  commis 
sioner  he  cleaned  up  New  York.  He  will  find  out 
the  State  thief  and  punish  him.'  '•  Platt  answered, 
"That  settles  it."  His  very  methods  which  they  had 
assailed  as  impractical  saved  the  day  for  them. 

In  1903,  in  an  address  at  the  dedication  of  a 
monument  to  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  Mr.  Koose- 
velt  said: 

We  can  as  little  afford  to  tolerate  a  dishonest  man  in 
the  public  service  as  a  coward  in  the  army.  The  murderer 
takes  a  single  life,  the  corruptionist  in  public  life,  whether 
he  be  bribe-giver  or  bribe-taker,  strikes  at  the  heart  of 
the  commonwealth. 

It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  he  attacked  dishon 
est  officials  wherever  found.  Bribery  and  graft  were 
so  common  that  they  had  even  entered  the  United 
States  Senate.  No  one  had  the  temerity  to  attack 
them  there,  however,  until  President  Roosevelt 
backed  up  the  prosecution  which  led  to  the  expulsion 
of  two  dishonest  senators.  One  of  them  had  ac 
cepted  fees  in  arguing  fraudulent  land  cases.  Land 
had  been  "stolen"  by  bribery  for  so  many  years  that, 
it  came  to  be  considered  legitimate.  This  senator  in 
extenuation  produced  a  contract  showing  that  his 
partner  was  to  receive  all  fees,  but  the  water-mark 
on  the  paper  betrayed  the  fact  that  the  paper  had 
been  manufactured  long  after  the  date  of  the 
contract.  It  had  really  been  made  after  he  was  a 
senator. 


108  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

A  great  "Trust"  was  also  caught  stealing  from 
the  government.  Parr,  a  customs  inspector,  grow 
ing  suspicious,  investigated  and  found  that  each  of 
the  seventeen  scales  was  filled  with  a  secret  spring 
which  when  manipulated  by  the  trust's  representa 
tive  reduced  the  weight  of  the  sugar  when  the  duty 
was  collected.  The  trust  was  prosecuted  and  paid 
the  government  over  two  million  dollars  it  had 
stolen  in  this  way.  The  whole  "case,"  step  by  step, 
was  regularly  reported  direct  to  the  President.  "In 
fluence"  nearly  shunted  Parr  off  the  trail,  but  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  learning  of  it,  kept  him  on  the  job. 

When  guilt  was  clearly  proved  and  there  was  no 
evidence  of  repentance  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
practice  of  showing  clemency  and  so  he  condemned 
the  pardons  so  freely  granted  soon  after  he  left  the 
Presidency.  He  objected  that  the  criminals  were 
all  pardoned  and  escaped  long  sentences  on  the 
ground  of  ill  health,  which  he  felt  was  a  subterfuge. 
They  were  proven  guilty  of  the  worst  offenses,  rang 
ing  from  "a  crime  of  brutal  violence"  to  "the  crimes 
by  astute  corruptionists."  He  felt,  therefore,  that 
the  community  as  a  whole  had  been  done  a  grave  in 
justice  by  these  pardons  and  that  the  effects  would 
be  "far  reaching  in  their  damages,"  because  their 
crimes  had  thus  been  minimized. 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  returned  from  Africa  he  sin 
cerely  desired  to  enjoy  his  home  and  do  literary 
work ;  but  when  Mayor  Gaynor  spoke  words  of  wel 
come,  the  day  he  landed,  the  urge  of  service  could  not 
be  silenced  and  he  said : 

And  I  am  ready  and  eager  to  do  my  part,  so  far  as  I  am 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS          109 

able,  in  helping  solve  problems  which  must  be  solved  if 
we  of  this,  the  greatest  democratic  republic  upon  which 
the  sun  has  ever  shone,  are  to  see  its  destinies  rise  to  the 
high  level  of  our  hopes  and  its  opportunities. 

To  be  willing  to  loaf  was  to  him  a  sign  of  moral 
ill-health  in  a  world  where  so  much  waited  to  be 
done.  He  commended  the  man  who  would  employ 
his  leisure  in  "politics  or  philanthropy,  literature  or 
art."  Then  he  continued : 

But  a  leisure  class  whose  leisure  simply  means  idleness 
is  a  curse  to  the  community  and  in  so  far  as  its  members 
distinguish  themselves  chiefly  by  aping  the  worst — not 
the  best — traits  of  similar  people  across  the  water,  they 
become  both  comic  and  noxious  elements  to  the  body  politic 
(American  Ideals,  p.  25). 

He  revealed  his  wide-reaching  service-ideals  in  the 
social  program  of  the  Progressive  Party  which  he 
wrote.  It  favored  workingmen's  compensation  laws, 
insurance  against  sickness  and  nonemployment.  It 
prohibited  child  labor,  provided  a  minimum  wage 
and  safety  and  health  protection  for  the  various  oc 
cupations.  It  interdicted  night  work  for  women 
and  young  persons  and  prescribed  one  day's  rest 
in  seven  and  not  more  than  eight  hours  work  out  of 
twenty-four  for  toilers.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  address 
supporting  this  program  was  punctuated  with  ap 
plause  one  hundred  and  forty-five  times.  The  re 
forms  proposed  were  so  much  in  line  with  the  king 
dom  of  God  that  it  was  appropriate  for  the  Progres 
sive  convention  to  close  by  singing,  "Praise  God, 
from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 


110  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  held  for  the  nation  ideals  of  service  for  the 
whole  world  even  as  he  did  for  the  individual  to  his 
nation.  He  was  therefore  eagerly  active  in  negotiat 
ing  peace  between  Russia  and  Japan  and  in  return 
ing  a  part  of  the  Chinese  indemnity  fund.  He  urged 
the  duty  of  aiding  Cuba  and  heartily  favored  our 
entrance  into  the  Philippines.  Other  countries  fat 
tened  themselves  through  their  territorial  adminis 
tration  of  backward  sections,  but  he  insisted  that  it 
was  America's  duty  to  develop  these  weaker  people 
and  to  teach  them  to  walk  alone. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  commended  the  English  and  Dutch 
administrators  of  Malaysia  but  emphasized  the  fact 
that  the  profit  coming  to  the  Europeans  was  the  first 
consideration,  while  with  us  our  sole  purpose  was  to 
benefit  the  Filipinos  even  to  our  own  detriment. 

He  insisted  that  the  ideal  had  never  been  filled  by 
any  other  nation  and  was  so  high  that  few,  if  any, 
governments  in  Europe  believed  that  we  would  ac 
tually  give  the  Cubans  self-government  and  fit  the 
Filipinos  to  govern  themselves. 

With  this  theory  of  our  nation's  place  in  the  world, 
he  early  saw  the  necessity  of  America  entering  the 
World  War  and  so  he  said: 

I  have  a  firm  conviction  that  our  nation  has  been  di 
vinely  called  or  favored  to  show  to  Germany  and  her  allies 
that  they  cannot  continue  in  their  criminal  policy  in 
definitely  without  answering  for  all  the  suffering  and  dev 
astation  that  have  been  caused  (The  Great  Adventure, 
p.  198). 

National    and    individual    success    survives    and 


THE  ESSENTIAL  OF  SUCCESS          111 

thrives  only  when  ideals  and  effort  are  bent  toward 
service  and  follow  the  rules  of  righteousness,  which 
are  the  laws  of  God.  That  was  the  theory  that  in 
spired  and  directed  all  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  activities. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE 

"The  difference  between  a  leader  and  a  boss  ia  that  the 
leader  leads  and  the  boss  drives." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

For  God  has  not  given  us  a  timid  spirit  but  a  spirit  of 
power  and  love  and  discipline. — 2  Tim.  1.  7  (Moffatt's 
translation). 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  stood  out  conspicu 
ously  like  an  officer  leading  troops  into 
battle  as  a  leader  of  righteousness ;  he  was 
a  veritable  David  in  courage.  His  confidence  grew 
out  of  a  consciousness  that  he  was  furnished  to  per 
form  his  providentially  assigned  tasks.  He  sought 
advice  about  the  "how"  to  put  a  conviction  into  ef 
fective  form,  but  he  never  asked  about  "expediency" 
if  he  was  sure  it  was  right.  Fear  paralyzes  many 
possible  leaders.  False  humility  often  checks  prog 
ress,  ruins  a  career,  and  defeats  a  campaign.  God's 
command  to  "go  forward"  should  alwa}7s  be  an 
swered  by  "I  can." 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  left  earth  and  been  car 
ried  to  his  humble  cemetery  a  copy  of  the  poem  "The 
Deacon's  Prayer,"  by  Samuel  Valentine  Cole,  was 
found  among  treasured  papers  with  many  lines 
scored.  Here  are  three  of  the  important  stanzas, 
voicing  the  "prayer."  They  are  reproduced  by  per 
mission  of  the  author: 

112 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         113 

"Not  one  who  merely  sits  and  thinks, 

Looks   Buddha-wise,  with  folded  hands; 
Who  balances,  and  blinks,  and  shrinks, 

And  questions — while  we  wait  commands! 
Who  dreams,  perchance,  that  right  and  wrong 

Will  make  their  quarrel  up  some  day, 
And  discord  be  the  same  as  song — 

Lord,  not  so  safe  a  one,  we  pray! 

"Nor  one  who  never  makes  mistakes 

Because  he  makes  not  anything; 
But  one  who  fares  ahead  and  breaks 

The  path  for  truth's  great  following; 
Who  takes  the  way  that  brave  men  go — 

Forever  up  stern  duty's  hill; 
Who  answers  'Yes,'  or  thunders  'No/ 

According  to  thy  holy  will. 

"We  want  a  man  whom  we  can  trust, 

To  lead  us  where  thy  purpose  leads; 
Who  dares  not  lie,  but  dares  be  just — 

Give  us  the  dangerous  man  of  deeds!" 
So  prayed  the  deacon,  letting  fall 

Each  sentence  from  his  heart;  and  when 
He  took  his  seat  the  brethren  all, 

As  by  one  impulse,  cried,  "Amen!" 

It  is  quite  clear  that  he  recognized  in  these  words 
the  ideal  which  he  tried  to  follow. 

Of  course  egotism  tempts  every  capable  person. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  confessed  that  early  success  in  the 
Legislature  turned  his  head.  He  told  Mr.  Kiis: 

I  suppose  that  my  head  was  swelled.  ...  I  took  the 
best  "mugwump"  stand — my  own  conscience,  my  own 
judgment  were  to  decide  in  all  things.  I  would  listen  to 
no  argument,  no  advice.  .  .  .  When  I  looked  around,  be 
fore  the  session  was  well  under  way,  I  found  myself  alone. 


114  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

.  .  .  "He  won't  listen  to  anybody,"  they  said,  and  I  would 
not.  ...  I  looked  the  ground  over  and  made  up  my  mind 
that  there  were  several  other  excellent  people  there,  with 
honest  opinions  of  the  right,  even  though  they  differed 
from  me.  I  turned  in  to  help  them,  and  they  turned  to 
and  gave  me  a  hand.  And  so  we  were  able  to  get  things 
done.1 

He  laughed  with  the  rest  when  one  of  his  boys 
said,  "Father  never  likes  to  go  to  a  wedding  or  a 
funeral,  because  he  can't  be  the  bride  at  the  wedding 
or  the  corpse  at  the  funeral." 

An  egotistical  man  is  always  irritable  and  com- 
plainful  over  being  thwarted.  "Bill"  Sewall  said, 
"Mr.  Roosevelt  was  never  irritable  and  he  could  not 
endure  people  who  were."  Major  Putnam  aptly 
said,  "Colonel  Roosevelt  had  many  traits  that  he 
admired  in  Andrew  Jackson,  but  his  real  sweetness 
of  nature  saved  him  from  arousing  the  antagonism 
that  Jackson  had  frequently  provoked." 

He  saved  himself  from  too  great  concern  over  any 
particular  contest  by  absorbing  himself  in  an  ex 
traneous  matter.  When  the  Century  Magazine  pub 
lished  a  notable  article  about  the  ancient  Irish  Sagas, 
someone  asked  Mr.  Roosevelt  how  he  happened  to 
write  it.  He  explained  that  Congress  was  in  a 
bitter  contest  over  his  action  in  the  Brownsville  Ne 
gro  soldier  murderers'  case  and,  "I  knew  that  it 
would  be  a  long  and  possibly  irritating  business  if 
I  followed  it ;  so  I  shut  myself  up,  paid  no  attention 
to  the  row,  and  wrote  the  article." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  so  quick  in  perception  and  so 


'Lawrence  Abbott,  Imprettiona  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  pp.  44,  45. 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         115 

economical  of  time  that  he  often  seemed  to  ignore 
others  when  he  had  really  digested  their  suggestions. 
A  great  leader  must  take  positions  and  often  stick  to 
them  so  tenaciously  as  to  appear  stubborn.  He  once 
said,  "Go  ahead,  do  something,  and  be  willing  to  take 
responsibility." 

We  must  command  respect  by  our  bearing  and 
confidence.  The  cowboys  frequently  taunted  Mr. 
Roosevelt  about  his  glasses.  His  usual  policy  was, 
"Do  your  job  and  keep  your  mouth  shut."  But  dur 
ing  a  round-up,  when  a  Texan  was  peculiarly  insult 
ing  in  dubbing  him  a  dude,  Roosevelt  strode  up  and 
said,  "You're  talking  like  an  ass,"  and  drew  his  gun, 
saying,  "Put  up  or  shut  up!  Fight  now  or  be 
friends."  The  cowboy  apologized  and  later  joined 
his  outfit.  This  attitude  he  carried  into  his  public 
life. 

When  assailed  for  acting  on  his  own  judgment  in 
the  plan  for  the  naval  trip  around  the  world,  he  ad 
mitted  that  he  acted  in  that  matter  as  he  did  in  tak 
ing  Panama  without  consulting  the  Cabinet,  for  he 
insisted,  "In  a  crisis  the  duty  of  a  leader  is  to  lead" 
and  not  to  dodge  behind  the  "timid  wisdom  of  a  mul 
titude  of  councilors." 

It  was  charged  that  as  President,  he  interfered  to 
secure  legislation  just  as  Wilson  and  Harding  did 
afterward.  Answering  the  charge,  he  said,  "If  I 
had  not  interfered,  we  would  not  have  had  any  rate 
bill," — or  beef  packers,  or  pure  food,  or  consular  re 
form,  or  Panama  Canal,  or  employers'  liability  bills. 
He  considered  it  his  duty  as  the  chosen  leader  of 
the  nation  to  secure  legislation  and  enforce  laws 


116  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

that  would  benefit  the  people  and  "favor  the  growth 
of  intelligence  and  the  diffusion  of  wealth  in  such 
manner  as  will  measurably  avoid  the  extreme  of 
swollen  fortunes  and  grinding  poverty." 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  charged  with  a  desire  to 
boss  the  country,  he  replied,  "I  am  a  leader.  I  am 
not  a  boss.  The  difference  between  a  boss  and  a 
leader  is  that  the  leader  leads  and  the  boss  drives." 
He  honestly  believed  he  was  gifted  as  a  leader  and 
was  serving  under  Jehovah's  orders  as  certainly  as 
were  Israel's  leaders. 

Mr.  Loeb  told  the  writer : 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  fervor  of  intense  patriotism  was  some 
times  taken  for  egotism.  He  never  had  the  least  trace  of 
the  real  thing.  No  man  was  ever  so  ready  to  give  credit 
to  the  other  fellow.  He  always  made  Garfield  and  Pinchot 
feel  that  they  were  doing  the  job.  He  wanted  them  to 
have  full  credit.  That  is  the  way  he  attracted  and  held 
really  big  men  to  him. 

Mr.  Pinchot  told  the  writer : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  most  generous  in  giving  credit  to 
other  people.  He  had  less  pride  of  opinion  than  any  man 
I  have  ever  known.  His  one  outstanding  characteristic 
was  humility  of  mind.  He  was  accustomed  to  say  that  a 
thing  was  not  worth  fighting  for  that  was  not  worth  being 
beaten  for. 

He  considered  it  as  legitimate  to  earn  a  living 
from  politics  as  from  medicine  or  law  provided  only 
that  uthe  politician  puts  service  to  the  state  as  his 
main  object."  Ability  to  fill  an  office,  not  party 
"pull,"  should,  therefore,  settle  a  candidate's  avail 
ability.  While  a  member  of  the  Civil  Service  Com- 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         117 

mission,  so  unpopular  among  the  politicians,  he 
wrote  his  sister  explaining  that  he  felt  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  accomplish  something  worth  while  either  "in 
politics  or  literature"  because  he  had  premeditatedly 
given  up  the  idea  of  entering  a  "money-making 
business." 

He  naturally  used  every  method  to  remind  the 
people  what  he  had  accomplished  so  that  they 
would  keep  him  at  the  job.  He  also  drew  courage 
and  inspiration  from  achievement  along  this  line  as 
the  lawyer  would  in  winning  a  case  or  the  merchant 
in  closing  a  notable  sale. 

After  the  sweeping  Kepublican  Congressional  vic 
tory  in  1918  following  President  Wilson's  reelection, 
the  editor  of  the  Metropolitan  Magazine  found  Mr. 
Koosevelt  in  bed  suffering  from  "a  bad  attack  of 
sciatica"  with  much  pain  but  jubilant  over  the  vic 
tory,  which  he  said  was  not  so  sweeping  as  to  give 
the  reactionaries  too  much  confidence.  And  referring 
to  himself  and  the  Progressives,  he  said,  "And  don't 
forget  that  we  did  a  lot  to  bring  this  victory  about." 

He  was  greatly  dependent  on  his  friends  for  en 
couragement.  He  was  nominated  by  acclamation 
in  1904  and  he  seemed  to  be  almost  as  unanimously 
popular  with  the  people  of  the  nation ;  but  even  then 
he  at  times  seriously  doubted  whether  he  would 
beat  Judge  Parker.  At  one  of  these  depressed  times 
he  confessed  anxiety  in  a  letter  to  John  Hay  but 
concluded  that  whatever  came,  "How  can  I  help 
being  a  little  proud  when  I  contrast  the  men  and 
the  considerations  by  which  I  am  attacked,  and  those 
by  which  I  am  defended?" 


118  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  was  really  aggravated  by  the  constant  charges 
that  his  public  career  was  a  mere  accident;  and  it 
was  a  jubilant  voice  which  declared  to  Mrs.  Roose 
velt,  after  his  sweeping  victory  in  1904,  "Now,  my 
dear,  I  am  no  longer  an  accident." 

He  had,  however,  no  false  and  artificial  notions 
about  his  own  gifts  and  ability.  He  felt  a  keen  re 
sponsibility  to  the  Creator  who  had  intrusted  him 
with  gifts.  He  said  one  time: 

I  know  the  very  ordinary  kind  of  man  I  am  to  fill 
this  great  office  [President],  I  know  that  my  ideals  are 
commonplace.  I  can  only  insist  upon  them  as  fundamental, 
for  they  are  that.  Not  in  the  least  doing  anything  great, 
I  can  try,  and  I  am  trying,  to  do  my  duty  on  the  level 
where  I  am  put,  and  so  far  as  I  can  see  the  way,  the  whole 
of  it. 

He  was  far  more  tractable  than  most  people  im 
agined. 

The  editor  of  the  Metropolitan  said  that  next  to 
his  intense  "patriotism  the  thing  we  felt  about  the 
Colonel  was  his  modesty  and  perfectly  natural  feel 
ing  of  being  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  everyone 
in  the  office  from  the  office  boy  up."  When  it  was 
suggested  that  an  article  on  "Labor"  was  too  long, 
he  graciously  and  promptly  tore  up  the  first  ten 
pages. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  told  the  writer : 

He  was  never  satisfied  with  a  speech,  but  would  work 
it  over  again  and  again,  after  posting  himself  very  care 
fully  on  the  subject.  He  never  delivered  a  speech  until  he 
had  submitted  it  to  a  group  of  friends,  who  often  cut  out 
long  passages.  He  would  heartily  thank  them  and  say  the 
speech  was  greatly  improved. 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         119 

"Bill"  Sewall  told  me,  "He  would  not  argue  at 
all  but  would  own  up  immediately  if  in  the  wrong." 
Mr.  Pinchot  insisted  that  it  did  not  hurt  his  pride 
to  "reverse  himself  when  found  wrong." 

The  Hon.  Oscar  Straus  gave  me  an  illustration  of 
President  Roosevelt's  promptness  in  changing  his 
mind  when  new  and  convincing  evidence  was  pre 
sented.  Before  Mr.  Straus  came  in  the  Cabinet  the 
President  had  openly  and  vigorously  supported  the 
bill  to  provide  a  literacy  test  for  immigrants.  Mr. 
Straus  was  opposed  to  the  bill  and  gave,  among 
others,  the  following  reason : 

Some  of  the  worst  immigrants  that  enter  our  shores  can 
read  and  write,  while  often  the  best  can  do  neither.  Many 
Europeans  are  illiterates  because  of  bad  economical  con 
ditions.  When  they  have  ambition,  under  those  circum 
stances,  to  come  to  America  they  usually  aspire  to  secure 
an  education  and  see  to  it  that  their  children  are  promptly 
and  properly  educated. 

To  prove  this,  he  showed  that  there  was  more 
illiteracy  among  American  born  than  among  foreign 
born.  When  a  strong  Boston  organization  called 
upon  the  President,  urging  him  to  again  back  the 
bill,  he  told  them  that  Mr.  Straus  had  presented 
evidence  that  had  caused  him  to  change  his  mind 
and  he  withdrew  his  support. 

John  Hay,  while  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  in  his 
diary,  November  20,  1904,  that  he  had  just  gone  over 
the  President's  message  and  made  many  suggestions 
and  omissions,  adding,  "He  accepted  my  ideas  with 
that  singular  amiability  and  open-mindedness  which 
forms  so  striking  a  contrast  with  the  general  idea 


120  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

of  his  brusque  and  arbitrary  character"  (Washburn, 
p.  118). 

Mr.  Stoddard,  his  intimate  adviser,  during  the 
trying  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  when  so  many 
thought  him  stubborn,  said  to  me:  "I  never  met  a 
man  in  public  life  who  took  advice  as  he  did.  In 
fact,  he  took  it  far  too  easily  at  times.'7  He  ap 
proached  the  state  which  the  Master  approved  when 
he  said:  "Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  in 
herit  the  earth,"  but  the  "meek"  were  not  cringing 
crawlers. 

Lawrence  Abbott,  however,  stresses  a  fact  in  which 
others  agree  when  he  says: 

I  do  not  mean  to  give  the  impression  that  he  altered  his 
mind  frequently.  On  matters  of  principle  he  could  be  as 
fixed  as  adamant.  But  in  methods  of  putting  a  principle 
into  effect  he  habitually  sought  counsel  and  was  eager  to 
adopt  suggestions. 

He  endeavored  to  find  the  best  way  to  word  and 
put  into  effect  his  deep-rooted  convictions,  which 
he  seldom  changed.  Mr.  Richberg,  a  party  leader,  a 
close  associate  in  political  matters,  said: 

When  I  first  engaged  in  intimate  political  work  with 
Colonel  Roosevelt  in  1913,  I  was  amazed  to  observe  his 
modesty  of  judgment,  his  readiness  to  consult  with  others, 
his  consideration  for  the  opinions  of  less  informed  men, 
and  his  careful  deliberation  before  taking  action. 

Dr.  Lambert  related  an  incident  of  a  speech  which 
the  President  read  to  him  one  night : 

I  told  him,  "You  are  using  a  sledge  hammer  to  kill  a  fly. 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         121 

You  would  accomplish  more  if  you  used  ridicule  instead  of 
abuse."  We  discussed  this  for  some  time  and  he  failed  to 
agree  with  me.  The  next  morning  he  greeted  me  with, 
"Well,  I  accepted  your  suggestions  and  worked  until 
3  A.  M.  to  write  the  speech  over." 

Soon  after  his  installation  as  President  he  formed 
a  "newspaper  Cabinet,"  composed  of  correspondents 
with  whom  he  discussed  the  most  serious  problems. 
They  were  pledged  to  secrecy  and  when  a  matter  was 
"released"  they  agreed  to  treat  it  sympathetically. 
He  wanted  to  get  the  viewpoint  of  the  masses 
through  the  brains  of  these  alert  newspaper  men. 

W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  said  to  me: 

I  once  asked  Theodore  why  he  associated  with  so  many 
scalawags  such  as  I  met  at  his  house.  He  replied,  "Yes, 
I  know  they  are  not  flawless,  but  they  have  some  noble 
traits  and  I  want  to  get  their  viewpoint." 

He  wanted  to  see  the  world  through  as  many 
eyes  as  possible.  Pastor  and  pugilist,  politician  and 
professional  man,  college  folk  and  the  untutored — 
all  interpreted  for  him. 

He  refused  to  accept  special  favors  as  due  his  office 
or  his  public  position.  For  example,  all  firearms 
carried  into  Yellowstone  Park  were  to  be  "sealed" 
to  avoid  use.  The  President  promptly  turned  his 
over,  but  being  recognized,  the  gatekeeper  handed 
them  back  unsealed.  But  Mr.  Roosevelt  insisted 
that  he  be  treated  just  as  any  other  citizen,  and  his 
guns  were  sealed. 

He  never  put  his  own  interests  first — like  his 
Lord  he  always  sought  the  common  good. 


122  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

On  his  return  from  Africa  he  received  two  thou 
sand  invitations  to  lecture  in  various  places  and  for 
fabulous  sums.  But  he  saved  himself  instead  for 
public  service  and  refused  all  of  these  invitations. 

After  the  way  was  closed  for  him  to  fight  in 
France  an  invitation  from  high  officials  came  urging 
him  to  visit  that  land.  If  ovation-hungry,  he  rejected 
a  feast,  for  he  said :  "They  would  give  me  a  great 
reception.  ...  I  have  a  horror  of  being  a  spectator 
while  other  men  are  fighting." 

When  the  Rough  Riders  were  organized,  Secretary 
of  War  R.  A.  Alger,  a  loyal  friend  of  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
proposed  that  he  be  made  colonel  while  Leonard 
Wood,  who  knew  military  tactics  and  could  do  the 
actual  training,  be  made  lieutenant-colonel.  But  he 
refused  to  accept  an  office  he  could  not  fill  and  went 
in  instead  as  lieutenant-colonel. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  campaigned  efficiently  for  Benjamin 
Harrison,  who  wanted  to  give  him  an  undersecre- 
taryship  in  the  State  Department.  But  Blaine,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  whom  he  had  once  opposed,  and 
who  was  unreconciled,  refused  to  approve  the  plan. 
Only  an  obscure  place  on  the  unpopular  Civil  Service 
Commission  was  offered ;  but  he  saw  an  opportunity 
to  serve  and  did  not  hesitate  a  moment.  Selfish  pique 
had  no  place  in  his  life;  he  took  the  humble  place 
as  quickly  as  the  conspicuous  if  it  was  then  his 
largest  place  of  service. 

When  the  heaviest  disappointment  of  his  life  came 
in  the  refusal  of  President  Wilson  to  allow  him  to 
fight  he  immediately  issued  a  statement  to  the  men 
who  had  offered  to  enlist  under  him : 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         123 

As  good  American  citizens  we  loyally  obey  the  decision 
of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American  army  and  navy. 
The  men  who  have  volunteered  will  now  consider  them 
selves  absolved  from  all  further  connection  with  this  move 
ment.  Our  sole  aim  is  to  help  in  every  way  in  the  success 
ful  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  we  most  heartily  feel  that 
no  individual's  personal  interest  should  for  one  moment 
be  considered  save  as  it  serves  the  general  public  interest. 

There  is  here  no  sulking  or  bitterness  coming  from 
poisoned  pride. 

He  did  not  require  political  agreement  as  a  sign 
of  ability  as  do  some  small,  selfish  politicians.  Mr. 
Thayer  was  once  embarrassed  by  the  cordial  friend 
ship  of  his  old  classmate  because  he  felt  compelled 
to  confess  that  he  had  not  voted  for  him  at  the 
previous  election.  "Bill,"  said  Mr.  Roosevelt,  "the 
man  who  can  write  The  Life  of  Cavour  can  vote  for 
anybody  he  pleases  so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  What 
has  your  politics  to  do  with  my  appreciation  of  your 
great  book?"  Another  zealous  supporter  was  pro 
testing  against  his  friendliness  with  Lodge  while 
that  senator  was  opposing  some  administration 
measure.  Mr.  Koosevelt  replied,  "I  should  talk  to 
Lodge  about  books  if  we  disagreed  on  the  Ten  Com 
mandments." 

Governor  Hadley,  of  Missouri,  was  a  loyal  sup 
porter  in  the  Chicago  convention  but  refused  to  fol 
low  him  out  of  the  party.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  big 
enough  to  recognize  the  Governor's  unusual  di 
lemma  and  felt  no  blame  for  him  when  others  could 
not  excuse  him.  Dean  Lewis,  an  eyewitness,  tells 
us  that  when  Hadley  came  to  say  good-by  and  to 


124  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

declare  his  alignment  with  Taft,  all  of  the  other  men 
stood  like  graven  images,  not  even  noticing  his  pres 
ence.  But  Mr.  Roosevelt  greeted  him  cordially  and 
took  him  aside  for  a  private  talk.  "There  was  not  a 
trace  of  resentment  in  his  manner,  and  I  do  not  think 
he  felt  resentment." 

He  opened  a  window  into  his  heart  when  he  wrote 
his  political  adviser,  Mr.  Richberg: 

You  really  please  me  when  you  say  that  you  do  not  be 
lieve  that  I  care  for  the  political  cost  to  myself.  My  dear 
Richberg,  I  think  I  can  conscientiously  say  that  I  have 
always  been  willing  to  sacrifice  my  own  political  chances 
for  a  national  object  which  I  consider  of  sufficient  weight. 

That  was  indeed  the  attitude  of  a  sincere  disciple 
of  the  Nazarene.  He  as  rigidly  enforced  his  ideas 
of  justice  when  he  was  to  suffer  as  he  would  when 
another  was  the  victim.  Through  a  peculiar  pro 
vision  in  the  Massachusetts  primary  law,  the  eight 
delegates  at  large  pledged  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  were 
elected,  yet  at  the  same  time  through  the  failure  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  friends  to  vote  on  the  subject  of 
actual  candidates  the  popular  vote  of  the  State, 
which  the  primary  also  provided  for,  favored  Mr. 
Taft.  Mr.  Roosevelt  immediately  issued  a  statement 
saying  that  he  would  expect  his  eight  delegates  to 
follow  the  instructions  of  the  popular  vote  and  sup 
port  Mr.  Taft. 

He  seemed  never  to  think  of  himself  first.  When 
his  carriage  was  hit  by  a  trolley  in  Massachusetts 
and  a  secret  service  man  was  killed,  he  looked  first 
after  the  injured  and  then  gave  instructions  to  notify 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         125 

the  Associated  Press  that  the  President  was  unin 
jured,  so  that  the  possible  fears  of  the  people  might 
be  allayed.  His  own  shin  bone  was  so  injured  that 
he  suffered  pain  and  inconvenience  from  it  for  the 
rest  of  his  life,  but  he  said  nothing  of  it  at  the  time. 

During  a  friendly  boxing  bout  with  a  cousin  of 
Mrs.  Roosevelt,  while  he  was  in  the  White  House, 
a  glancing  blow  extinguished  the  sight  in  one  eye.  He 
did  not  mention  the  matter  for  years,  saying  after 
ward  that  he  feared  the  knowledge  of  the  mishap 
would  make  the  young  man  feel  badly.  After  an 
operation,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  he  lost  the  hearing 
of  one  ear,  but  the  public  did  not  know  that. 

"Bill"  Sewall  said  to  me : 

He  was  never  what  I  considered  a  sturdy  man.  His  en 
ergy  and  will  carried  him  forward.  He  never  thought  of 
taking  care  of  himself  but  just  did  what  he  wanted  to  do 
if  it  was  a  part  of  his  day's  work.  But  the  time  came 
when  he  taxed  himself  too  greatly.  He  admitted  to  me 
that  his  South  American  trip  was  evidently  a  mistake — 
but  that  was  stated  confidentially. 

His  self-forgetfulness  is  vividly  shown  in  his 
South  American  sickness.  A  canoe  was  caught  in 
the  rocks,  and  he,  working  waist-deep  in  the  water, 
injured  the  shin  bone  which  had  been  hurt  in  the 
Massachusetts  trolley  wreck.  Fever  developed  and 
he,  "in  his  weakened  condition,  was  attacked  by  a 
veritable  plague  of  deep  abscesses."  He  was  so  ill 
that  he  could  not  be  moved,  and  since  the  provisions 
were  rapidly  diminishing  and  no  supplies  could  be 
secured  in  the  neighborhood,  he  seriously  considered 
taking  his  own  life  rather  than  detain  and  endanger 


12G  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

the  whole  party.  But  finally  they  moved  with  Mr. 
Roosevelt  in  a  canoe  covered  with  a  canvas  and  so 
weak  he  could  not  splash  water  in  his  face.  But 
Kermit  wrote :  "He  was  invariably  cheerful  and  in 
the  blackest  times  ever  ready  with  a  joke.  .  .  .  He 
gave  no  one  any  trouble." 

When  he  was  shot  at  Milwaukee,  while  campaign 
ing  as  the  Progressive  candidate  for  President,  he 
at  first  sank  back,  but  seeing  the  crowd  struggling 
with  his  assailant,  quickly  forgot  himself  and  aris 
ing,  said,  "Do  not  hurt  him,  but  bring  him  to  me." 
Someone  then  urged  him  to  go  at  once  to  the  hos 
pital  ;  but  he  insisted  that  the  waiting  crowd  in  the 
hall  must  first  be  considered  and  went  there.  When 
ready  to  speak  he  pulled  his  speech  out  of  his  pocket 
to  find  it  perforated  with  the  bullet.  One  hundred 
sheets  of  paper  had  probably  saved  his  life.  He 
was  shocked  for  a  moment  as  he  recognized  this 
fact,  but  quickly  recovered  and  went  on  with  his 
speech.  He  talked  for  an  hour  and  a  half  while 
bleeding  from  a  bullet  in  his  breast  which,  by  the 
way,  he  carried  to  his  death.  He  was  not,  however, 
merely  impulsive  even  in  this,  for  his  rare  foresight 
was  used  even  here,  as  is  shown  in  a  note  to  Henry 
White,  former  Ambassador  to  Italy  and  France, 
who  called  him  "foolhardy" : 

You  know,  I  didn't  think  I  had  been  mortally  wounded. 
If  so,  I  would  have  bled  from  the  lungs.  But  I  coughed 
hard  three  times  and  put  my  hand  to  my  mouth;  as  I  did 
not  find  any  blood,  I  ...  went  on  with  my  speech. 

He  seemed  to  prepare  for  everything.  Mr.  Van 
Valkenburg  told  me : 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         127 

He  was  attending  a  celebration  of  his  dear  friend,  Father 
Curran,  at  Wilkes  Barre,  Pennsylvania.  The  Father,  Theo 
dore,  and  I  were  riding  in  a  motor  through  the  cheering 
crowds.  The  President  was  standing  up  bowing  to  the 
crowd  and  singing  a  Negro  ditty  while  he  did  so.  Sud 
denly  a  big  fellow  rushed  up  and  jumping  on  the  running 
board  reached  for  Mr.  Roosevelt.  In  a  moment  the  Presi 
dent  caught  him  and  by  jiu  jitsu,  threw  him  off  in  a 
flash.  I  asked  him,  "How  could  you  act  so  quickly?"  He 
replied,  "I  think  out  and  talk  over  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
such  possible  attacks  in  advance  and  am  ready  when  they 
come.  I  was  thus  also  prepared  for  the  shooting  at  Mil 
waukee." 

As  an  outstanding  leader  he  recognized  his  indebted 
ness  to  the  public  and  so  safeguarded  himself. 

In  the  Milwaukee  speech  with  death  facing  him 
and  even  while  increasing  the  risk  by  speaking,  he 
said:  "I  tell  you  with  absolute  truth,  I  am  not 
thinking  of  my  own  life,  I  am  not  thinking  of  my 
own  success.  I  am  thinking  only  of  the  success  of 
this  great  cause."  Continuing,  he  said : 

I  do  not  care  a  rap  about  being  shot,  not  a  rap.  I  have 
had  a  good  many  experiences  in  my  time,  and  this  is  only 
one  of  them.  What  I  do  care  for  is  my  country.  I  wish 
I  were  able  to  impress  upon  our  people  the  duty  to  feel 
strongly,  but  to  speak  truthfully  of  their  opponents.  .  .  . 
I  say  now  that  I  have  never  said  on  the  stump  one  word 
against  any  opponent  that  I  could  not  substantiate,  .  .  . 
nothing  that,  looking  back,  I  would  not  say  again.1 

Only  the  poise  that  comes  from  unselfish  service 
inspired  by  the  faith  in  the  Master  could  make  such 
a  declaration  while  facing  death. 

Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Lawrence  Abbott,  p.  297. 


128  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  depreciated  the  credit  given  him  for  his  self- 
forgetfulness  when  shot,  and  said: 

But  a  good  soldier  or  sailor,  or  for  the  matter  of  that, 
even  a  civilian  accustomed  to  hard  and  hazardous  pursuits, 
a  deep-sea  fisherman,  or  railway  man,  or  cowboy,  or  lum 
berjack,  or  miner,  would  normally  act  as  I  acted  without 
thinking  anything  about  it.  I  believe  half  the  men  in  my 
regiment  at  the  least  would  have  acted  just  as  I  acted. 
Think  how  many  Bulgars  during  the  last  month  have 
acted  in  just  the  same  fashion  and  never  even  had  their 
names  mentioned  in  bulletins. 


He  immediately  remembered  his  future  engage 
ments  and  recalled  ex-Senator  Beveridge  to  take  his 
speaking  dates.  He  affirmed  that  now,  as  in  the 
sixties,  it  is  "not  important  whether  one  leader  lives 
or  dies.  It  is  important  only  that  the  cause  shall 
live  or  win.  Tell  the  people  not  to  worry  about  me, 
for  if  I  do  go  down  another  will  take  my  place." 
And  again:  "If  one  soldier  who  happens  to  carry 
the  flag  is  stricken,  another  will  take  it  from  his 
hands  and  carry  it  on." 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  beckoning  and  inspiring 
ideal  of  such  a  life  was  Abraham  Lincoln?  When 
he  was  inaugurated  as  President  in  1904  he  wore 
a  ring  containing  a  lock  of  Lincoln's  hair,  a  new 
evidence  of  his  finely  tempered  sentimental  nature. 
He  had  received  it  with  a  letter  from  John  Hay,  who 
assured  him  that  the  hair  in  the  ring  had  been  taken 
from  the  head  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  Dr.  Taft  on 
the  night  of  the  assassination  and  that  he  himself 
had  received  it  from  the  son  of  Dr.  Taft.  He  as- 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         129 

sured  him  further,  as  he  urged  him  to  wear  it,  that 
Mr.  Roosevelt  was  "one  of  the  men  who  most  thor 
oughly  understood  and  appreciated  Lincoln."  Mr. 
Lincoln's  and  Mr.  Roosevelt's  monograms  were 
both  engraved  on  the  ring. 

John  Hay  knew  Lincoln  as  well  as  any  man 
through  his  intimate  acquaintance  as  his  secretary, 
and  he  knew  Mr.  Roosevelt  from  his  youth  up; 
hence  the  tribute  was  a  high  one,  and  its  full  effect 
was  not  lost,  for  afterward  Mr.  Roosevelt,  referring 
to  the  fact  that  the  ring  was  on  his  finger  when  the 
Chief  Justice  administered  the  oath  of  office  taken 
when  he  was  sworn  in  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  said  he  often  reminded  John  Hay  that 
the  presence  of  the  ring  at  that  time  deeply  im 
pressed  him.  He  affirmed  that  it  led  him  to  secretly 
resolve  to  constantly  interpret  the  Constitution  in 
the  spirit  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  "document  which 
put  human  rights  above  property  rights  when  the 
two  conflicted." 

A  little  later,  he  explained  to  Henry  F.  Pritchett 
that  the  vision  of  Lincoln  greatly  affected  as  he 
seemed  to  see  him  in  the  "different  rooms  and  halls." 
He  explained  that  "so  far  as  one  who  is  not  a  great 
man"  could  do  so  he  modeled  after  the  "great" 
Lincoln  and  tried  to  follow  his  policy.  Then  he 
bursts  out  in  a  wish  for  Lincoln's  invariable 
"equanimity.  I  try  my  best  not  to  give  expression  to 
irritation  but  sometimes  I  do  get  deeply  irritated." 

He  was  so  absolutely  true  to  his  convictions  and 
so  earnestly  supported  them,  no  matter  whether  suc 
cess  or  failure  faced  him,  that  he  appeared  to  some 


130  ROOSEVELT'S  KELIGION 

practical  men  as  stubborn.  Mr.  McGrath,  his  secre 
tary  during  the  "Progressive"  days,  told  ine : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  knew  before  campaigning  in  1912  that  he 
would  be  defeated.  Yet  he  kept  a  happy  and  hopeful  spirit, 
affirming  that  his  party  was  right.  Though  he  carried  a 
large  personal  vote,  few  others  were  elected,  and  he  knew 
that  this  meant  the  ultimate  collapse  of  the  party.  Never 
theless,  he  loyally  spoke  for  the  local  candidates  in  1914 
as  a  personal  debt  to  them.  During  all  of  these  disappoint 
ments  he  showed  no  irritability  and  never  became  sour. 
Though  blow  came  after  blow,  yet  he  was  never  even 
groggy. 

He  was  standing  on  the  Rock  of  Ages  and  so  stood 
firmly. 

He  never — even  for  the  sake  of  harmony — "swal 
lowed"  his  convictions.  Even  after  returning  to  the 
Republican  Party,  he  retained  his  Progressive  social 
program.  Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  was  called  to  the 
hospital  to  criticise  his  "keynote"  Maine  speech  in 
1918.  The  doctor  allotted  him  fifteen  minutes  but 
Mr.  Roosevelt  held  him  for  an  hour  while  he  talked 
over  the  speech.  When  it  was  completed,  "Van" 
found  that  it  contained  all  the  items  of  social  plans 
contained  in  the  original  Progressive  platform  and 
wrote  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  the  reactionaries  would 
never  approve  it.  But  later,  he  wrote  "Van"  that  he 
had  submitted  the  speech  to  three  noted  standpat 
Republican  leaders  who  had  opposed  him  as  a  Pro 
gressive  and  added,  "The  joke  is  that  they  approved 
every  word  of  the  speech  without  a  single  sugges 
tion." 

It  is  possible  to  be  egotistically  stubborn  about 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         131 

simplicity  and  a  much  boasted  "democracy."  One 
can  be  as  objectionable  in  ill-fitting  clothes  and  crude 
manners  as  in  the  habiliments  of  a  fop.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  accepted  the  customs  of  English  royalty  like  a 
gracious  gentleman  while  among  them  in  an  official 
capacity.  He  was  the  representative  of  the  United 
States  at  the  funeral  of  Edward  VII ;  and  his  secre 
tary,  fearing  he  would  object  to  some  of  the  proposed 
trappings  and  pomp,  called  him  into  conference 
when  his  representatives  could  not  agree  about 
"parade"  details.  He  replied : 

Why,  Mott,  I  appreciate  your  thoughtfulness,  but  I  am 
here  as  an  ambassador,  not  to  do  what  I  like  but  what  the 
English  people  like,  as  the  contribution  of  my  country  to 
the  respect  which  the  world  is  paying  to  the  memory  of 
the  King.  If  the  people  want  me  to,  I'll  wear  a  pink  coat 
and  green-striped  trousers!1 

But  there  was  no  flunkeyism  about  his  own  home. 
He  did  not  even  have  a  "butler"  or  a  "footman." 
Rosy-cheeked  girls  answered  the  door,  while  colored 
Charley  Lee  handled  the  "reins"  or  the  "wheel."  An 
old-fashioned  cook — no  foreign  dignitary — prepared 
the  meals. 

A  "good-fighting  man"  General  advised  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  when  he  entered  the  Spanish  War,  to  get  a  pair 
of  black-top  boots  for  full  dress,  as  they  were  "very 
effective  on  hotel  piazzas  and  in  parlors."  He  af 
firmed:  "I  did  not  intend  to  be  in  any  hotel.  .  .  . 
I  had  no  full-dress  uniform,  nothing  but  my  service 
uniform." 

Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Lawrence  Abbott,  p.  297. 


132  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

But  when  the  standing  of  his  country  was  at 
stake  he  could  insist  on  the  smallest  details  of  social 
etiquette.  At  a  White  House  state  dinner,  Holleben, 
the  German  ambassador,  suggested  that  Prince 
Henry,  as  a  Hohenzollern  representing  the  Kaiser, 
should  walk  out  to  dinner  first.  Mr.  Roosevelt  re 
plied,  curtly,  "No  person  living  precedes  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  in  the  White  House." 

He  always  longed  for  the  quiet  of  home  life,  which 
many  believed  he  did  not  covet.  He  wrote  Kermit, 
after  the  Progressive  defeat,  that  while  people  would 
not  believe  that  he  had  not  been  so  happy  for  years 
as  since  the  election,  yet  it  was  true.  He  enjoyed 
being  free  from  engagements  and  having  the  oppor 
tunity  to  "stay  out  here  with  mother." 

He  never  put  too  large  confidence  in  popularity. 
He  tasted  its  highest  tide  on  his  return  from  his 
African  trip.  It  was  my  privilege  to  witness  the 
hilarious  and  almost  universal  welcome  given  him 
in  New  York  at  that  time.  The  whole  country  ac 
claimed  him.  But  he  kept  his  head  and  said :  "It  is 
a  kind  of  hysteria.  They  will  be  throwing  rotten 
eggs  at  me  soon."  He  was  right.  Very  soon  the 
"man  on  the  street"  who  had  a  little  while  before 
shouted  friendly  acclamations,  now  talked  about 
"the  poor  back-number  who  thought  he  was  God  Al 
mighty."  At  this  low  tide  of  popularity  a  man  put 
up  an  autographed  photo  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  auction 
and  had  difficulty  in  getting  twenty-five  cents  for  it. 
Lord  Morley,  after  his  visit  to  America,  sent  back 
such  a  laudatory  note  that  Roosevelt  was  embar 
rassed.  Morley  wrote: 


A  HUMBLE  SELF-CONFIDENCE         133 

My  dear  fellow,  do  you  know  the  two  most  extraordinary 
things  I  have  seen  in  your  country?  Niagara  Falls  and  the 
President  of  the  United  States — both  great  wonders  of 
nature. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  feared  such  praise  would  be  misunder 
stood  and  bring  a  reaction,  so  he  said  about  it : 

That  was  a  very  nice  thing  of  Morley  to  say,  so  long  as 
it  is  confined  to  one  or  two  of  my  intimate  friends  who 
won't  misunderstand  it!  Just  at  the  moment,  people  are 
speaking  altogether  too  well  of  me.  .  .  .  Reaction  is  per 
fectly  certain  to  come  under  such  circumstances,  and  then 
people  will  revenge  themselves  for  feeling  humiliated  for 
having  said  too  much  on  one  side  by  saying  too  much  on 
the  other. 

And  discussing  his  popularity  in  the  midst  of  its 
highest  tide  in  1906,  before  he  had  met  any  reverses, 
he  reminds  a  friend  in  a  letter  that  he  is  not  think 
ing  about  his  popularity,  for  he  felt  that  if  he  was 
at  that  time  popular,  it  would  not  be  long  before  he 
became  unpopular.  He  concludes:  "I  am  not  pay 
ing  heed  to  public  opinion.  I  am  paying  heed  to  the 
public  interest." 

Publicity  always  brings  a  dangerous  experience. 
It  will  search  out  all  the  weakness  of  habit  or  trait 
in  the  individual.  Limelight  is  likely  to  go  to  the 
head.  It  may  become  an  opiate,  and  when  gone  may 
drive  one  to  foolish  sensationalism  for  its  recovery 
or  cause  one  to  sit  in  soured  and  dispirited  idleness. 
But  Mr.  Roosevelt  proved  his  unegotistical  self- 
confidence  by  such  a  devotion  to  his  country  that  no 
victory  could  overturn  or  no  defeat  sour  him. 

Through  all  conditions  and  with  all  available  aid 


134  KOOSEVELT'S  KELIGION 

he  persevered  to  bring  in  better  ways  and  days.  He 
gathered  all  available  evidence — he  valued  advice 
as  he  understood  its  source,  and  he  viewed  all  sides 
before  he  came  to  a  decision.  But  when  he  had 
reached  a  decision,  he  proceeded  with  patience  and 
perseverance  to  carry  it  out  with  a  self-confidence 
that  did  not  question  his  ability  or  the  ultimate  out 
come.  That  is  the  mark  of  a  Christian  leader  who 
believes  in  the  call  of  God  and  the  sufficient  "grace" 
that  accompanies  the  call.  It  is  the  confidence  of 
Paul,  who  affirmed,  "I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth  me." 


CHAPTER  VII 
A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND 

"The  highest  type  of  philanthropy  is  that  which  springs 
from  the  feeling  of  brotherhood,  and  which,  therefore, 
rests  on  the  self-respecting,  healthy  basis  of  mutual  obliga 
tion  and  common  effort." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

A  man  that  hath  friends  must  show  himself  friendly. 
— Prov.  18.  24. 

IN  a  letter  never  published,  and  loaned  to  the 
writer  by  Mr.  Bishop,  Mr.  Roosevelt  differenti 
ates  between  "sentiment"  and  sentimentality  in 
answering  a  charge  that  he  discounted  both : 

I  regard  sentiment  as  the  great  antithesis  of  sentimen 
tality,  and  to  substitute  sentiment  for  sentimentality  in  my 
speech  would  directly  invert  my  meaning.  I  abhor  senti 
mentality,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  think  no  man  is  worth 
his  salt  who  isn't  profoundly  influenced  by  sentiment  and 
who  doesn't  shape  his  life  in  accordance  with  a  high  ideal. 

Some  German  sympathizers  mistook  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  association  with  the  Kaiser  and  so  tried  in  a 
personal  visit  to  smother  his  intelligence  by  appeal 
ing  to  a  blind  admiration  and  thus  win  his  support 
for  their  cause.  Mr.  Roosevelt  acknowledged  the 
courtesies  shown  him  by  the  Kaiser  on  his  visit  to 
Germany  and  admitted  that  he  corresponded  with 
him  but  concluded,  "Indeed,  sirs,  my  relations  with 

135 


136  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

the  Kaiser  have  been  exactly  the  same  as  with  the 
King  of  the  Belgians.  Good  afternoon." 

Sentiment  is  clean,  strong  affection  backed  by  in 
telligence  and  fed  by  respect.  It  is  the  basis  of 
patriotism,  happy  life,  and  friendship.  Without  it 
one  is  marked  as  either  heartless  or  brainless.  It 
does  not  make  one  soft  or  mushy  but  gives  poise  and 
ballast  to  the  powers.  The  Man  of  Galilee  loved 
John  and  wept  over  Jerusalem,  but  he  also  called 
the  religious  leaders  "whited  sepulchers"  and  lashed 
the  grafting  dealers  out  of  the  Temple.  Theodore 
Roosevelt  was  a  consistent,  tender,  and  affectionate 
friend,  but  he  too  was  a  fearless  assailant  of  evil 
and  an  ardent  advocate  of  righteousness.  Christ's 
disciples  normally  illustrate  both  traits. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  always  kept  his  feelings  susceptible 
to  impressions ;  he  was  never  hard.  He  quickly  saw 
the  pathos  of  the  Negro  freedmen  who  fought  with 
Jackson  in  1812,  "who  were  to  die  bravely  as  free 
men  only  that  their  brethren  might  live  on  ignobly 
as  slaves."  They  were  to  "shed  their  blood  for  the 
flag  that  symbolized  to  their  kind  not  freedom  but 
bondage."  For  at  that  time  the  United  States  per 
mitted  slavery. 

He  was  not  averse  to  expressing  his  affection  for 
his  friends.  President  Butler  told  me  that  in  private 
he  was  exuberant  in  his  manifestations.  After  say 
ing  of  Mr.  Riis  that,  next  to  his  father,  he  was  the 
"best  man  I  have  ever  known,"  he  added,  "I  learned 
to  love  him  like  a  brother." 

The  newspaper  men  were  all  knit  to  him  by  genu 
ine  affection.  A  taxicab  driver  overheard  one  news- 


~,  •- 

iderwtKxl  &   I'nHerwwxl  Studios,  New  York 

A  FAMOUS  TRIO  AT  CHAUTAUQUA.  NEW  YORK: 
JACOB  A.  RIIS  (ON  LEFT),  THEODORE  ROOSE 
VELT,  AND  (BISHOP)  JOHN  H.  VINCENT. 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    137 

paper  man  at  Sagamore  Hill  say  to  another  on  the 
day  of  the  funeral,  "Brace  up,  Bill,  we'll  soon  be 
in  town."  "Shut  up,  you  fool,"  blubbered  the  other. 
"You're  crying  yourself  just  as  hard  as  I  am." 

Frank  Crane  said  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  "He  was  a 
friend,  conceived  of  as  a  friend  in  a  passionate  and 
personal  way  as  no  other  statesman  in  American 
history  except  Lincoln."  He  had  learned  of  Him  who 
said  that  if  one  did  not  love  his  brother  whom  "he 
hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not 
seen?" 

He  drew  friends  to  him  as  honey-hearted  flowers 
do  the  bees.  He  fellowshiped  with  them  as  naturally 
as  boys  flock  together  in  droves.  His  magnetism  was 
friendliness  aglow — the  cold  hearted  never  move 
others.  Said  Henry  A.  Wise  Wood: 

As  I  stood  by  the  open  grave  I  did  not  think  of  Roose 
velt  the  soldier,  the  orator,  the  author,  the  naturalist,  the 
explorer,  the  statesman,  the  leader  of  men,  or  the  former 
President  of  the  greatest  of  republics.  I  could  think  of 
him  only  as  a  friend  and  brother  in  whom  elements  were 
so  mixed. 

He  was  deeply  moved  by  others'  sorrows.  When 
Deal  Dow,  the  foster  son  and  nephew  of  "Bill" 
Sewall  and  Mr.  Roosevelt's  partner  in  Dakota,  died, 
he  wrote  "Bill"  immediately  and  said,  "He  was  one 
of  the  men  whom  I  felt  proud  to  have  as  a  friend." 
He  then  proceeds,  "His  sincerity,  .  .  .  his  courage, 
his  gentleness  to  his  wife,  his  loyalty  to  his  friends 
all  made  him  one  whose  loss  must  be  greatly 
mourned." 


188  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

While  on  his  Yellowstone  Park  trip  with  John 
Burroughs,  George  Marvin,  one  of  the  teamsters, 
died.  When  he  returned  to  Mammoth  Hot  Springs, 
the  President  looked  up  the  young  woman  to  whom 
the  teamster  had  been  "engaged"  and  tried  to  com 
fort  her.  He  "sat  a  long  time  with  her,  in  her  home, 
offering  his  sympathy  and  speaking  words  of  con 
solation,"  wrote  Mr.  Burroughs. 

The  War  Department,  to  save  the  twenty-five  dol 
lars,  the  cost  of  cabling,  had  issued  an  order  that  the 
names  of  soldiers  wounded  and  killed  in  the  Philip 
pines  should  be  sent  by  mail.  The  mothers  of  all  the 
soldiers  were  thus  kept  steadily  anxious.  Mr.  Riis 
determined  to  correct  the  matter  and,  going  to 
Oyster  Bay,  found  a  dinner  party  arranged  but  he 
was  immediately  invited  to  participate.  When  the 
guests  were  seated,  he  engaged  in  a  discussion  so 
that  during  a  lull  the  President  might  hear  the  case. 
When  the  President  thus  learned  the  facts,  he  or 
dered  General  Corbin,  who  wanted  to  wait  until  he 
returned  to  Washington,  to  issue  the  order  arranging 
for  names  of  the  wounded  and  killed  to  be  cabled 
promptly,  saying,  "These  mothers  gave  the  best  they 
had  to  their  country  and  deserve  every  considera 
tion." 

The  traits  required  in  his  friends  were  not  speci 
fied,  but  they  were  nevertheless  very  real  and,  fully 
realized,  were  such  as  were  commonly  found  in  only 
real  disciples  of  the  Great  Teacher,  for  nearly  all  of 
his  intimate  friends  were  either  active  churchmen  or 
else  were  raised  in  a  distinctly  Christian  home.  The 
following  were  loyal  churchmen  :  George  W.  Perkins, 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    139 

Gifford  Pinchot,  Senators  Beveridge  and  Lodge,  Gen 
eral  Leonard  Wood,  Governor  Henry  Allen,  Ray 
mond  Robbins,  and  Dr.  Alexander  Lambert.  All  his 
secretaries  were  raised  in  vital  religious  homes, 
while  most  of  them  were  active  members  of  the 
church. 

Mr.  McGrath  assured  me  that  criticism  by  clergy 
men  hurt  Mr.  Roosevelt  more  than  that  from  any 
other  source.  He  felt  that  they  "should  be  more 
careful  in  circulating  poorly  authenticated  rumors. 
He  felt  he  had  a  right  to  expect  hearty  support  from 
them  in  his  hard  fight  for  righteousness."  He  had 
many  highly  valued  friends  in  the  ministry. 

He  wrote  the  English  ambassador  that  he  would 
not  choose  the  companionship  of  those  merely  known 
in  high  finance  as  compared  with  Professor  Bury,  or 
Admirals  Peary  or  Evans,  or  Rhodes,  the  historian, 
or  Selons,  the  big  game  hunter.  Continuing,  he 
says: 

The  very  luxurious  grossly  material  life  of  the  average 
multimillionaire  whom  I  know  does  not  appeal  to  me  in 
the  least.  From  the  standpoint  of  real  pleasure  I  should 
selfishly  prefer  my  old-time  ranch  on  the  Little  Missouri 
to  anything  in  Newport! 

He  required  richness  of  soul  and  recognized  the 
Father's  son  behind  a  grimy  face  as  quickly  as  in  a 
home  of  culture. 

Dr.  Lambert  told  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had 
plenty  of  temper  but  he  was  in  absolute  control  of 
it.  "I  have  watched  him  work  on  an  adversary  with 
such  infinite  patience  and  persistency  that  I  would 


140  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

turn  away  with  disgust  and  afterward  say,  'Theo 
dore,  why  didn't  you  give  that  man  a  piece  of  your 
mind  and  let  him  go?'  He  would  reply,  'Then  he 
would  go  away  to  oppose  me,  but  now  he  is  with 
us.'  ':  Lawrence  Abbott  said,  "While  in  controversy, 
he  often  got  'mad,'  .  .  .  but  he  never  stayed  'mad' 
nor  cherished  resentments  of  any  kind."  At  Chicago, 
Mr.  Thayer  says,  people  were  closeted  with  him 
constantly,  and  every  little  while  he  would  come 
out  into  the  reception  room  and  speak  to  the 
throng  there.  "No  matter  what  the  news,  no 
matter  how  early  or  late  the  hour,  he  was  always 
cheerful." 

•  A  relative  once  said,  "I  have  never  in  my  life 
heard  a  cruel  word  from  his  lips.  He  dislikes  and 
despises  many  people,  but  even  when  he  wants  to 
annihilate  them  he  is  never  mean  or  cruel  or  petty 
about  it." 

W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  told  me  that  his  aged  mother 
was  cheered  every  Sunday  after  church  during  the 
summer  because  the  President  of  the  United  States 
had  time  to  call  upon  her.  He  added : 

My  mother  was  a  Quakeress,  very  devout  and  an  earnest 
student  of  the  Bible,  and,  like  Theodore,  she  used  her 
imagination  in  the  study  of  it.  They  always  had  vigorous 
discussions  about  Bible  incidents,  verses,  and  interpreta 
tions.  Each  would  frequently  convince  the  other. 

What  a  beautiful  thoughtfulness  was  shown  in  this 
call!  He  displayed  the  same  kindly  Christ-like 
thoughtfulness  everywhere. 

Charles  W.  Thompson,  a  newspaper  correspondent 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    141 

on  his  campaigning  train  in  1912,  accidentally  cut 
his  finger  while  opening  a  mucilage  bottle  and  in 
fection  threatened  bad  results.  At  Portland,  Oregon, 
Mr.  Roosevelt  was  leading  the  procession  through 
the  hotel  toward  the  great  banquet  room,  when,  said 
Mr.  Thompson  to  me : 

He  spied  me,  and  holding  the  whole  throng  up,  pushed 
through  the  crowd,  put  his  hand  affectionately  on  my  shoul 
der  and  said:  "Charley,  how  is  the  hand?  I  am  anxious 
about  it.  Don't  you  think  you  had  better  return  home?" 
He  talked  with  me,  a  humble  newspaper  man  with  a  hurt 
hand,  for  several  minutes  while  the  whole  line  was  held 
up.  Was  it  any  wonder  we  loved  him? 

When  Senator  Hanna  was  taken  ill  the  President 
was  under  his  heaviest  burden  of  duties,  but  he 
slipped  away  nevertheless  to  make  a  call  on  the  sick 
man.  The  Senator  was  deeply  moved  and  wrote  a 
letter  of  warm  appreciation  for  the  personal  call 
from  so  busy  a  man.  He  assured  him  that  such 
attention  "were  drops  of  kindness  that  are  good  for 
a  fellow,"  for  they  "touch  a  tender  spot." 

Jacob  A.  Riis,  once  an  emigrant  tramp,  though  of 
a  fine  Danish  family,  was  being  entertained  at 
Christmas  breakfast  in  the  White  House  when  he 
happened  to  mention  his  sick  mother  in  Denmark 
longing  for  her  boy.  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  with  tender 
solicitude,  said,  "Theodore,  let  us  cable  over  our  love 
to  her."  And  then  said  Mr.  Riis: 

Consternation  struck  my  Danish  home  village  when  a 
cable  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  received, 
which  read: 


142  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"The  White  House,  December  25,  1902. 
"Mrs.  Riis,  Ribe,  Denmark. 

"Your  son  is  breakfasting  with  us.  We  send  you  our 
loving  sympathy. 

"Theodore  and  Edith  Roosevelt." 

He  was  always  sensitive  to  the  comfort  of  his 
friends  and  as  gentle  as  his  Master.  Mr.  Riis  had 
just  recovered  from  a  long  sick  spell  when  he  visited 
Oyster  Bay.  Previous  to  his  illness  he  easily  kept 
up  with  the  long  strides  of  the  President.  They 
started  out  for  a  walk,  but  Mr.  Riis  fell  behind  and 
the  President,  suddenly  remembering  his  friend's 
long  illness,  dropped  back  and  Mr.  Riis  says,  "took 
my  arm,  walked  very  slowly,  telling  me  something 
with  great  earnestness  to  cover  his  remorse."  At 
another  time,  Mr.  Riis  wore  a  medal  given  him  by 
his  king,  at  a  great  diplomats'  dinner,  but  for  some 
strange  social  reason  no  one  else  wore  a  medal.  The 
President,  noticing  Mr.  Riis'  embarrassment,  came 
over  and  pressing  his  arm  affectionately  said,  "I 
am  so  glad  that  you  honored  me  by  wearing  your 
medal." 

This  same  trait  is  illustrated  by  his  treatment 
of  visitors  to  the  White  House.  Colonel  W.  H. 
Crook  recounts  the  visit  of  Ezra  Meeker  to  the 
White  House,  accompanied  by  his  prairie  schooner 
drawn  by  oxen,  in  which  he  had  spent  two  years  in 
traveling  from  Tacoma,  Washington.  The  old  man, 
once  wealthy,  had  lost  his  fortune.  President  Roose 
velt  went  out  to  the  wagon,  bareheaded  on  a  crisp 
November  day,  to  look  over  the  outfit  with  Mr. 
Meeker.  He  watched  the  collie  dog  go  through  his 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    143 

tricks.  He  met  the  wife,  "and  the  woman  in  the 
wagon  was  made  to  feel  by  his  courteous  cordiality 
that  he  felt  it  an  honor  to  meet  her." 

Mr.  McGrath  said  to  me,  "Mr.  Roosevelt  never 
showed  any  smallness  in  success  or  failure — he  took 
both  alike — he  had  no  feet  of  clay.  It  was  not  true 
in  his  case  that  'No  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valet.'  "  Mr. 
Loeb  added:  "So  many  thought  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
was  ruthless  and  dictatorial.  He  was  not  but  was 
the  most  considerate  of  men." 

He  was  genuinely  worthy  of  the  "Blessed"  which 
was  promised  to  the  "meek,"  for  he  was  never  pre 
tentious,  officious  or  self  assertive. 

Mr.  Riis  describes  a  farmer  and  daughter  who  were 
viewing  the  pictures  in  Governor  Roosevelt's  wait 
ing  room  when  he  arrived.  Instead  of  speak 
ing  to  the  folks  waiting  to  see  him,  he  walked  over 
to  the  farmer  and  acted  as  guide  and  then  shook 
hands  with  him  as  he  left  without  making  himself 
known.  Then  he  turned  to  the  waiting  politicians 
and  dealt  with  them  according  to  their  deserts. 
Again,  while  riding  in  an  elevated  train,  he  arose 
to  give  a  working  girl  his  seat  but  would  not  allow 
Mr.  Riis  to  tell  her  who  he  was.  One  day  at  his 
Metropolitan  Magazine  office,  a  lady  was  ushered  in 
with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  friend.  He  read 
the  letter  and  then,  since  no  one  was  waiting  to  see 
him,  for  one  half  hour  he  talked  about  the  sins  of 
the  administration  at  Washington.  Finally  the  lady 
said,  "That  is  interesting,  but  when  can  I  see  Colonel 
Roosevelt?"  He  told  the  incident  on  himself  glee 
fully  a  few  minutes  later. 


144  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

A  young  friend  of  mine  arranged  to  give  his  grand 
father  a  treat  by  showing  him  the  house  where  his 
idol,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  lived.  But  when  they  ar 
rived  the  gate  was  closed.  He  walked  up  to  the 
house  and  asked  a  servant  if  he  could  not  bring  his 
aged  grandfather  into  the  grounds.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
overheard  the  conversation  and  came  out  to  meet 
the  party.  The  young  man  introduced  all  the  group 
save  one,  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  with  perfect  ease  said, 
"I  have  not  met  this  gentleman."  It  was  the  chauf 
feur.  There  was  no  acting;  it  was  only  the  spon 
taneous  outspeaking  of  his  nature.  He  treated  all 
alike — as  common  members  of  God's  family. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  recognized  no  "blue-blooded"  su 
premacy — only  the  red  blood  of  high  endeavor  gave 
standing  with  him.  He  mingled  freely  with  all 
types  and  conditions  of  people  in  a  genuinely  broth 
erly  way  in  order  that  he  might  learn  from  and 
help  all. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  once  asked  why  he  was  so 
popular  with  his  soldiers  and  replied,  "I  do  not 
know  except  that  I  always  slept  with  my  men  in  the 
trenches."  Mr.  Cheney,  his  long-time  neighbor,  ven 
turing  an  explanation  of  his  grip  on  the  people,  con 
tinues  :  "He  never  permitted  a  letter  to  go  unan 
swered."  He  was  by  handclasp  and  correspondence 
so  much  in  touch  with  the  people  that  "when  he  ap 
peared  before  a  crowd  he  was  looked  upon  as  a 
personal  friend."  "And  when  receiving  visitors  he 
gave  the  same  hearty  consideration  to  his  gardener 
at  Sagamore  Hill  that  he  would  the  most  prominent 
visitor." 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    145 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  became  police  commissioner, 
he  lived  with  the  police  just  as  intimately  as  he  did 
with  his  soldiers.  One  of  them  said,  "He  made  me 
feel  that  he  would  sooner  be  seen  in  the  company  of 
me  and  my  kind  than  in  the  company  of  ambassa 
dors  and  kings."  A  captain  asserted : 

Every  man  who  really  tried  to  do  right,  or,  having  gone 
crooked,  reformed  and  showed  he  was  trying  to  do  right, 
always  received  a  fair  chance.  He  detested  cowardice  and 
shirking  and  the  milk-and-water  man,  but  he  always  stuck 
to  the  man  who  proved  he  was  doing  or  trying  to  do  his 
job.1 

He  came  into  a  group  of  woodsmen  in  Maine,  many 
of  them  old  and  some  not  even  able  to  write  their 
own  names ;  but  he  was  soon  one  of  them,  said  "Bill" 
Sewall.  He  immediately  found  "the  real  man  in 
very  simple  men.  He  didn't  look  for  a  brilliant 
man."  He  took  them  as  they  were.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
greatly  enjoyed  his  Masonic  lodge,  where  "Brother 
Doughty,"  the  gardener  on  a  neighboring  estate, 
was  Worshipful  Master.  "In  the  lodge  he  was  over 
me,  though  I  was  President,  and  it  was  good  for  him 
and  good  for  me."  His  "Master"  mingled  so  nat 
urally  with  his  townsfolk  that  they  called  Him  "the 
carpenter." 

In  the  same  way  Mr.  Roosevelt  tells  us  Mrs.  Roose 
velt  belonged  to  a  church  society  which  she  fre 
quently  entertained  at  Sagamore  Hill  and  even 
several  times  at  the  White  House. 


'From  The  Boy's  Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  pp.  167,  168,  by  Herman  Hage- 
dorn.     Published  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 


146  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"The  brakeman's  wife  or  the  butcher's  wife"  are 
not  distinguished  as  such.  The  "guild,"  he  tells  us, 
has  no  "social  rank"  because  they  have  a  common 
social  interest. 

And  that  was  to  render  service  in  the  name  of 
mankind's  Great  Elder  Brother. 

Senator  Lodge  well  said  that  he  had  "a  breadth 
of  human  sympathy  as  wide  as  the  world,  limited  by 
neither  creed  nor  race.  .  .  .  He  was  equally  at  ease 
in  the  Sorbonne  or  addressing  a  group  of  men  in  a 
mining  town."  Mrs.  Robinson  gave  an  unconscious 
testimony  to  his  understanding  of  the  people  when 
she  told  the  following: 

I  will  always  remember  the  workman  who  approached 
me  one  day  and  said  to  me:  "I  want  to  shake  hands  with 
you.  You  are  the  sister  of  my  best  friend.  I  have  never 
met  Colonel  Roosevelt  but  he  is  nevertheless  my  best  friend. 
I  knew  that  if  ever  I  wanted  to  write  to  him  for  advice  he 
would  answer." 

He  had  absolutely  no  sympathy  with  attacks  on 
any  race  or  creed.  He  greatly  offended  the  South  by 
entertaining  Booker  T.  Washington,  a  Negro,  at  din 
ner.  He  placed  in  his  Cabinet  the  only  Hebrew  who 
has  ever  held  that  position.  He,  like  Woodrow  Wil 
son,  was  one  of  the  few  noted  men  who  had  a  Roman 
Catholic  private  secretary  and  defended  him  against 
all  attacks.  He  was  much  exercised  because  Taft, 
as  a  Unitarian,  was  read  out  of  the  orthodox  group. 

In  his  early  days  a  young  men's  Republican  Club 
of  which  he  was  a  member  proposed  to  blackball  a 
high-grade  Jew  of  good  family.  Mr.  Roosevelt  heard 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    147 

of  it  and  reminded  them  that  they  were  there  as  Re 
publicans  and  Americans  and  "to  exclude  a  man 
because  he  is  a  Jew  is  not  decent."  He  affirmed  that 
as  soon  as  race  and  creed  came  in  he  would  quit.  Mr. 
Riis  reports  an  auditor  as  saying:  "Roosevelt  was 
pale  with  anger.  The  Club  sat  perfectly  still  under 
the  lashing."  There  was  no  blackball  after  he  had 
finished. 

The  first  skirmish  of  the  Rough  Riders  resulted  in 
eight  killed,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  gloried  in  the  true 
democracy  shown  in  those  who  died,  for  all  classes 
were  represented.  In  one  grave  were  placed  "In 
dian  and  cowboy,  miner,  packer  and  college  athlete," 
one  from  the  lonely  West  without  noted  ancestry 
and  others  from  the  noted  families  of  "Stuyvesants 
and  Fishes."  They  had  been  equal  in  "daring  and 
loyalty."  They  illustrated  the  absence  of  classism 
and  the  spirit  of  unity  in  our  nation. 

He  hoped  to  preserve  the  same  spirit  of  democracy 
and  remove  any  possible  class  chasm  by  universal 
military  training,  for  he  said : 

I  want  to  see  Mrs.  Vanderbilt's  son  and  Mrs.  Astor's  son 
with  Pat  and  Jim  of  Telegraph  Hill,  sleeping  under  the 
same  dog-tent  and  eating  the  same  food.  I  want  to  see  the 
officers  selected  from  among  them  on  the  strict  basis  of 
merit  without  regard  to  anything  else.  Then  we  will  have 
a  democratic  system. 

Many  wondered  how  he  was  able  to  secure  the  con 
servative  Elihu  Root  for  his  Cabinet.  Mr.  Root  was 
often  assailed,  and  once  Mr.  Roosevelt  defended  him 
by  showing  that  he  gave  up  a  law  practice  of  f  100,- 


148  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

000  a  year  to  enter  the  Cabinet,  which  sacrifice  would 
amount  to  one  half  million  dollars  at  the  end  of  the 
term  if  he  remained  that  long.  Continuing,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said:  "He  has  worked  so  as  to  almost 
wear  himself  out.  I  am  obliged  continually  to  try 
to  get  him  to  ease  up  and  to  persuade  him  to  go  rid 
ing  with  me." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  found  great  joy  in  sealing  the  truth 
of  his  assertion  that  in  Christian  America  one  could 
climb  from  the  lowest  place  to  the  highest.  As 
President,  therefore,  he  found  great  satisfaction  in 
raising  successively  Young  and  Chaffee  to  be  lieu 
tenant-generals. 

When  General  Young,  who  was  then  retired,  found 
that  General  Chaffee  was  to  hold  the  place  once  filled 
by  him,  he  sent  his  three  stars  and  a  note  that  they 
were  presented  by  "Private  Young  to  Private  Chaf 
fee."  The  two  began  together  in  the  ranks  and  "each 
had  grown  gray  in  a  lifetime  of  honorable  service 
under  the  flag,  and  each  closed  his  active  career  in 
command  of  the  army." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  never  forgot  old  friends  in  high  or 
low  estate.  "Bill"  Sewall  had  not  seen  Mr.  Roose 
velt  for  sixteen  years  when  he  came  to  Bangor  after 
succeeding  William  McKinley  as  President.  The 
modest  backwoodsman  would  not  himself  reopen  the 
fellowship  but  came  to  town  and  remained  within 
reach.  When  President  Roosevelt  came  out  on  the 
hotel  balcony  to  speak,  his  first  word  was  a  request 
for  someone  to  find  "Bill"  Sewall  and  bring  him 
to  the  hotel.  The  President  had  a  long  and  hilarious 
visit  with  him  in  a  private  room,  talking  over  old 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    149 

times,  and  the  association  again  became  intimate. 
A  week  later  "Bill"  got  a  letter  thanking  his  wife 
and  daughter  for  "some  hunting  socks  that  they  knit 
for  him."  In  the  same  letter  "Bill"  was  invited  to 
visit  him  in  Washington.  "Bill"  and  wife  and  his 
two  older  children,  their  married  daughter  and  hus 
band  and  the  grandchild  went.  They  were  met  by 
an  "aide,"  comfortably  located,  and  then  went  to 
the  White  House,  to  find  the  President  out  horseback 
riding.  Finally  his  quick  step  in  the  hall  was  recog 
nized  and  coming  into  the  room  in  his  riding  clothes, 
"Bill"  said,  "It  seemed  as  though  these  sixteen  years 
that  lay  between  had  never  been  and  we  were  all 
back  in  the  happy  ranch  days  again."  The  President 
took  "Bill"  all  over  the  White  House  and  was  told 
that  he  had  a  "pretty  good  camp."  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
then  guided  them  about  the  city  to  see  the  sights. 
"Bill,"  noticing  the  embarrassment  of  his  "women 
folks"  when  people  looked  at  them  in  the  President's 
box  at  the  theater  that  evening,  "thought  it  was 
perfectly  natural — the  people  had  found  something 
green  from  the  country." 

"Bill"  told  me  that  when  the  President  was  inau 
gurated  his  whole  family  came  down  again.  Gifford 
Pinchot,  the  cultured  college  graduate  and  man  of 
wealth,  and  "Bill"  both  told  me  of  a  luncheon  given 
to  thirty  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  most  intimate  friends 
the  day  before  he  relinquished  the  Presidency,  for 
both  of  them  were  there.  Mr.  Pinchot  told  me  that 
busy  as  the  President  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  were 
while  preparing  to  leave  the  White  House,  they  did 
not  forget  during  the  last  days  to  send  each  friend 


150  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

an  intimately  personal  gift  to  remind  them  of  the 
association  at  Washington. 

His  friendship  for  the  newspaper  men  was  not  of 
ficial  but  very  genuine.  Once  when  the  Illinois  Bar 
Association  gave  a  banquet  they  excluded  the  news 
paper  men,  said  Mr.  Leary.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Roose 
velt  learned  about  it  he  told  the  toastmaster  that 
these  "boys"  were  in  his  "party"  and  he  withdrew 
to  eat  with  them  in  the  grill  below.  And  he  only 
returned  when  the  committee  of  arrangements  apolo 
gized  and  provided  for  the  newspaper  men. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  a  mere  "election-time" 
friend.  He  wrote  "Mr.  Dooley"  (Peter  Finley 
Dunne)  one  time  that  "if  a  man  is  good  enough  for 
me  to  profit  by  his  services  before  election,  he  is  good 
enough  for  me  to  do  what  I  can  for  him  after  elec 
tion."  And  it  didn't  make  any  difference  to  him 
whether  the  name  was  "Casey  or  Schwartzmeister, 
or  Van  Rensselaer,  or  Peabody."  The  last  two  had 
no  right  to  lord  it  over  the  other  two;  all  were 
equally  Americans. 

After  the  nomination  of  Justice  Hughes  Mr.  Roose 
velt  gave  careful  consideration  to  the  matter  and 
decided  to  support  him.  Some  Progressives  imag 
ined  that  they  would  display  unusual  loyalty  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt  by  helping  to  defeat  Hughes.  The 
Philadelphia  North  American,  always  a  loyal  Roose 
velt  supporter,  assured  its  readers  that  such  actions 
had  no  sympathy  from  Mr.  Roosevelt.  It  went  on 
to  show  that  the  ex-President  understood  that  Jus 
tice  Hughes'  election  would  mean  that  if  he  failed 
as  President,  a  Democrat  would  succeed  him,  and  if 


A  COUKTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    151 

he  had  a  successful  administration  he  would  be  re- 
elected.  Hence  Mr.  Roosevelt  would,  in  either  cir 
cumstance,  not  have  another  chance  until  1924, 
when  he  would  be  sixty-six,  too  old  to  expect  a 
nomination.  Then  the  editorial  concluded  that,  in 
spite  of  these  facts : 

He  is  giving  his  utmost  endeavors  to  insure  the  election 
of  Mr.  Hughes,  which  means  the  definite  closing  of  the 
door  of  opportunity  upon  himself.  A  Progressive  who  re 
jects  this  example  adopts  a  strange  means  of  proving  his 
fidelity. 

Almost  in  the  first  mail,  the  following  letter  came 
to  the  editor: 

Dear  Van: 

Your  editorial,  "Last  Thoughts,"  summed  up  the  whole 
case,  as  only  The  North  American  can  do  it.  What  you 
said  about  me  touched  me  deeply  and  pleased  me  much. 
I  shall  keep  the  editorial:  you  speak  of  me  as  I  should  like 
to  have  my  children's  children  believe  I  was  entitled  to  be 
spoken  of. 

He  illustrated  Christian  fidelity  in  his  pledges.  He 
was  very  leal  to  the  "home"  folks  and  town.  The 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Woodson,  once  the  pastor  of  the 
Methodist  church  at  Oyster  Bay,  wrote  me  that  be 
fore  Mr.  Roosevelt  went  abroad  he  promised  on  his 
return  to  lecture  with  stereopticon  pictures  about 
his  African  trip.  He  gave  it  as  promised  at  the 
Opera  House  and  repeated  it  the  next  day  for  the 
children.  "He  refused  to  give  this  lecture  anywhere 
else,"  wrote  Mr.  Woodson,  "though  offered  $4,000  a 
night  to  do  so.  He  said  to  me  at  his  home  at  the 


152  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

time,  'This  is  my  compliment  to  the  people  of  my 
own  town'  and  he  added:  'Any  time  I  can  be  of 
service  to  the  churches  of  Oyster  Bay,  do  not  hesitate 
at  all  to  call  upon  me.  I  will  be  ready  always  to 
render  that  service  to  the  extent  of  my  ability.'  " 

Mr.  Cheney  assures  us  that  the  "servants"  were 
solicitously  cared  for.  One  time  Noah  Seaman,  the 
superintendent  of  the  estate,  whom  Mr.  Roosevelt 
treated  "almost  like  a  brother  both  in  public  and 
private,"  was  critically  ill.  Mr.  Cheney  notified  the 
President  of  the  fact  and  he  sent  a  specialist  from 
Washington  to  treat  him  "and  his  prompt  action  at 
the  time  probably  saved  Seaman's  life." 

His  Rough  Riders  always  held  an  unusually  warm 
place  in  his  heart.  Senator  Bard  took  a  Californian 
over  to  see  the  President  and  started  to  present  him 
when  Mr.  Roosevelt  cried  out,  "Why,  hello,  Jim ! 
How  are  you?"  and  he  grasped  the  man's  hand 
heartily.  Then  they  talked  for  a  time;  and  as  they 
went  out,  the  President  called  out,  "Come  up  to  din 
ner  to-night,  just  as  you  are."  Then  after  a  pause, 
as  though  it  was  an  afterthought,  he  shouted,  "And 
be  sure  to  bring  Bard  with  you." 

When  the  President  visited  Yellowstone  Park 
with  John  Burroughs  he  arranged  to  stop  over  in 
the  little  town  of  Medora,  near  which  lay  his  old 
ranch.  He  delivered  an  address  and  then  men, 
women,  and  children  shook  hands  while  he  called 
many  of  them  by  name.  One  old  resident  was 
greeted :  "How  well  I  remember  you !  You  once 
mended  my  gunlock  for  me — put  on  a  new  hammer." 
The  old  man  was  delighted. 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    153 

Everyone  in  trouble  felt  free  to  go  to  Mr.  Roose 
velt.  One  of  his  Rough  Riders  wrote  the  President 
that  he  was  "in  trouble"  because  he  had  shot  an 
other  "lady"  while  he  was  shooting  at  his  "wife." 
He  made  no  other  explanations.  Evidently  the 
damage  was  slight  and  later  the  fellow  promised  to 
cease  drinking  and  never  drank  again.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  lent  another  Rough  Rider  two  hundred  dollars 
for  lawyer's  fees  after  he  had  been  arrested  for 
horse-stealing.  Very  soon  the  money  was  returned 
with  the  explanation,  "The  trial  never  came  off.  We 
elected  our  district-attorney."  The  President 
laughed,  for  he  then  understood  as  he  had  surmised 
— that  it  was  politics  and  not  real  guilt  that  landed 
his  friend  in  jail. 

Whenever  he  gave  financial  aid  he  used  another 
individual  as  a  medium  to  save  embarrassment  to 
the  one  helped  and  pledged  secrecy  from  the  one 
representing  him.  Mr.  Cheney  recounts  a  time  when 
he  received  a  letter  from  the  President,  asking  him 
to  investigate  someone  who  had  made  an  appeal  for 
help,  because  it  was  Mr.  Roosevelt's  custom  never  to 
refuse  anyone  who  was  actually  in  need  of  aid.  He 
then  specifies  by  saying : 

If  the  members  of  a  once  unfortunate  Oyster  Bay  family 
are  living,  they  will  now  know  that  the  groceries,  coal,  and 
rent  money  provided  for  them  came  through  funds  furnished 
by  a  President  of  the  United  States. 

It  may  also  be  stated  that  a  certain  lady  very  close  to 
the  Roosevelts  sent  a  check  once  a  month,  through  my  wife, 
for  three  successive  years,  to  pay  the  rent  of  a  poor  woman 
residing  in  Oyster  Bay. 


154  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Mr.  Cheney  further  tells  of  the  destruction  of  two 
houses  in  Oyster  Bay  by  fire.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  hearing 
of  it,  sent  for  his  two  neighbors  and  lent  them  the 
money  without  interest,  to  rebuild  their  homes. 

He  was  under  very  severe  criticism  because  he 
would  not  dismiss  General  Smith  without  a  trial 
when  it  was  rumored  that  he  had  issued  an  order  in 
the  Philippines  to  "kill  and  burn  and  make  a  howling 
wilderness  of  Samar."  In  due  time  he  was  tried, 
convicted,  and  discharged  in  an  orderly  way.  Dur 
ing  the  scorching  fire  of  abuse  Professor  Albert  Bush- 
nell  Hart  wrote  a  friendly  letter  to  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
who  replied  that  in  the  midst  of  "the  well-nigh  ter 
rible  responsibilities"  he  must  naturally  lose  all 
anxiety  about  any  personal  outcome  but  must  fear 
lessly  do  the  right  as  he  saw  it.  He  concluded,  how 
ever,  that  if  he  could  keep  the  esteem  and  regard  of 
such  men  as  Professor  Hart,  he  would  be  en 
couraged  and  feel  "that  I  have  deserved  it."  This  he 
said  would  be  a  sufficient  reward  no  matter  what 
the  outcome  was. 

George  H.  Payne  as  a  youthful  newspaper  reporter 
visited  Mr.  Roosevelt,  expecting  to  spend  fifteen 
fearful  and  unsettled  moments.  He  remained  two 
hours  and  testifies : 

Instead  of  the  aloofness  and  the  reserve  that  I  had 
expected,  I  was  warmed  and  thrilled  by  the  simplicity 
of  the  man  who  was  apparently  anxious  to  make  himself 
understood  to  a  younger  and  unknown  man. 

A  recruit  in  camp  during  the  Cuban  war  once  ac 
costed  him:    "Say,  are  you  the  lieutenant-colonel? 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    155 

The  colonel  is  looking  for  you."  He  did  not  correct 
or  condemn  the  bungling  soldier  but  unceremoni 
ously  said  to  him,  "Come  with  me  and  see  how  I 
do  it."  And  so  he  trained  the  raw  soldier  tactfully 
and  at  the  same  time  won  a  friend. 

Dean  Lewis,  out  of  a  long  friendship,  says  that 
while  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  "uniformly  courteous  and 
unassuming,  there  was  a  dignity  in  his  intercourse 
which  prevented  familiarity  by  any  except  lifelong 
friends."  While  on  campaigns  he  was  pleased  by 
the  shout  "Teddy";  yet  no  one  ever  thus  addressed 
him  personally.  Though  he  called  a  great  many 
intimate  friends  by  their  first  names,  yet  only  when 
they  had  known  him  all  their  lives  and  were  prac 
tically  of  the  same  age  did  they  call  him  "Theodore." 

A  newspaper  man,  conceited  by  his  assignment  to 
Oyster  Bay,  began  to  boast  of  his  familiarity  with 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  said  Mr.  Thompson  to  me.  One  day, 
during  an  interview  with  the  boys,  this  "fresh"  re 
porter  remarked,  "Colonel,  I  suppose  you  will  go  to 
the  polls  to-morrow  and  vote  the  Democratic  ticket." 
Immediately  Mr.  Roosevelt  froze  up ;  his  eye  flashed, 
and  he  replied,  "I  am  ready  to  answer  any  sensible 
questions  but  not  a  fool's  queries."  He  would  say  no 
more,  and  for  days  would  not  again  see  the  "boys" ; 
the  "upstart"  had  to  leave  Oyster  Bay.  Loose  in 
timacy  was  never  permitted. 

Regardless  of  any  one  he  condemned  the  custom 
of  using  political  pull  to  secure  pardons  for  unques 
tioned  criminals.  He  speaks  of  men  of  high  stand 
ing  as  urging  clemency,  and  said  that  they  included 
two  United  States  senators,  a  governor,  two  judges, 


156  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

an  editor,  and  "some  eminent  lawyers  and  business 
men."  He  further  explained  that  in  some  of  the 
cases  such  as  "where  some  young  toughs  had  com 
mitted  rape  on  a  helpless  immigrant  girl,"  and  an 
other  where  a  wealthy  and  prominent  physician  had 
betrayed  a  girl  and  then  persuaded  her  to  practice 
abortion,  "I  rather  lost  my  temper."  This  righteous 
anger  led  him  to  write  some  of  the  petitioners  for 
such  pardons  that  he  was  sorry  he  could  not  instead 
add  to  the  penal  sentences.  He  then  gave  the  facts 
out,  "for,"  he  adds,  "I  thought  that  my  petitioners 
deserved  public  censure."  Their  anger  at  this  pro 
cedure  "gave  me  real  satisfaction." 

No  one  in  the  world  could  "lord  it  over  him,"  as 
will  be  vividly  illustrated  by  the  following,  related 
by  the  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes.  It  occurred  when 
Mr.  Roosevelt  and  the  Kaiser  were  attending  the 
services  connected  with  the  funeral  of  King  Ed 
ward: 

After  the  ceremony,  the  Kaiser  said  to  Colonel  Roosevelt: 
"Call  upon  me  at  two  o'clock;  I  have  just  forty-five  minutes 
to  give  you." 

"I  will  be  there  at  two,  your  Majesty,  but  unfortunately, 
your  Majesty,  I  have  but  twenty  minutes  to  give  you." 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  in  his  Reminiscences  gives  this 
testimony  to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  spirit  of  cooperation  on 
The  Outlook : 

During  the  five  years  of  our  association  he  proved  him 
self  an  ideal  exemplar  of  the  spirit  and  value  of  team  work, 
that  he  was  a  cordial  collaborator  with  his  fellow  editors, 
that  he  never  sought  to  impose  upon  us  the  authority  which 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    157 

his  reputation  and  his  position  had  given  him,  that  he  was 
the  friend  of  every  one  in  the  office.1 

Like  the  Great  Teacher,  he  was,  because  of  respect 
for  others,  always  a  natural  and  full  member  of  any 
group  he  joined.  He  tried  to  tie  up  all  of  his  "party" 
to  his  program  and  do  cooperative  work  and  was 
severely  criticized  for  dealing  and  working  with 
such  men  as  Quay.  But  while  Mr.  Roosevelt  often 
secured  valuable  assistance  in  this  way,  he  never 
compromised  his  convictions  or  swerved  from  an 
upright  standard  in  the  least  degree.  If  he  had, 
they  would  have  uncovered  it  in  the  Progressive 
campaign  and  the  "Boss"  Barnes  trial  and  would 
have  "broken"  him.  But  he  went  out  with  an  un 
sullied  escutcheon. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Roosevelt's  election  Senator  Quay 
called  on  him  and  said,  "Most  men  who  claim  to  be 
reformers  are  hypocrites,  but  I  deem  you  sincere." 
That  formed  a  basis  for  team  work,  and  often  after 
ward  Quay  aided  the  President.  Speaking  to  Sena 
tor  Beveridge  afterward,  he  said:  "I  confess  that 
I  have  a  personal  liking  for  Quay.  He  stands  for 
nearly  everything  I  am  against,  but  he  is  straight 
forward  about  it  and  never  tries  to  fool  me."  When 
death  approached  he  sent  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
asked  him  to  look  after  the  Delaware  Indians  whose 
blood  ran  in  his  veins.  At  his  demise  the  President 
sent  Mrs.  Quay  a  telegram: 

Accept  my  profound  sympathy,  official  and  personal. 
Throughout  my  term  as  President  Senator  Quay  has  been 

lRemin\8cence8,  Lyman  Abbott,  p.  443. 


158  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

my  stanch  and  loyal  friend.  I  had  hoped  to  the  last  that  he 
would,  by  his  sheer  courage,  pull  through  his  illness.  Again 
accept  my  sympathy.  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Because  of  what  the  President  considered  a  brutal 
attack  on  another  senator  he  withdrew  a  dinner  in 
vitation  to  Senator  Tillinan  and  they  became  avowed 
enemies.  Knowing  this  and  desiring  to  defeat  the 
bill  forbidding  railroad  rebates,  the  Standpat  Re 
publicans  so  arranged  matters  that  the  advocacy  of 
the  bill  would  be  in  Tillman's  hands.  But  enmity 
did  not  spoil  "team  work"  and  the  bill  was  passed, 
the  President  remarking,  "I  was  delighted  to  go 
with  him  or  with  anyone  so  long  as  he  was  traveling 
my  way — and  no  longer." 

Like  every  friendly  and  courteous  man,  he  loved 
animals.  John  Wesley  insisted  that  there  must  be 
a  place  in  heaven  for  his  faithful  horse. 

During  a  round-up  on  the  plains  a  calf  too  weak 
to  follow  its  mother  was  carried  by  Mr.  Roosevelt 
in  front  of  the  saddle  two  or  three  times.  When 
finally  it  was  decided  that  it  could  not  be  taken 
along,  he  insisted  that  the  mother-cow  be  left  be 
hind  with  it,  rather  than  allow  it  to  starve  on  the 
plains. 

President  Roosevelt  writes  Ethel  an  interesting 
account  of  a  "rescue."  Sloan,  the  secret  service  man, 
and  he  were  en  route  to  church  when  he  saw  two 
dogs  chasing  a  kitten.  He  drove  the  dogs  off  with  his 
cane  while  Sloan  captured  the  "kitty."  Then  the 
President  inquired  from  the  smiling  spectators  if 
the  cat  belonged  to  them,  but  not  finding  an  owner, 
he  went  down  the  block  with  the  kitten  in  his  arms 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    159 

until  he  saw  "a  very  nice  colored  woman  with  a 
little  girl  looking  out  the  window  of  a  small  house" 
and  gave  her  the  kitten.  Then,  straightening  his 
clothes  and  brushing  his  silk  hat,  he  went  on  to 
church  in  a  better  frame  to  "worship." 

His  gentleness  was  preserved  and  strengthened 
and  his  wisdom  was  magnified  by  his  love  for  chil 
dren. 

One  day,  after  he  had  left  the  police  job,  two 
lads  came  to  headquarters — not  knowing  that  he  had 
resigned — to  see  Commissioner  Roosevelt,  feeling 
sure  that  he  would  lift  suspicion  from  and  get  justice 
for  them  when  everyone  else  had  failed  them.  His 
"spirit"  still  prevailed  and  the  boys  were  not  dis 
appointed.  Dr.  Iglehart  also  tells  of  the  little  daugh 
ter  of  the  Rev.  W.  I.  Bowman,  who,  on  entering  the 
train  ahead  of  her  mother,  and  knowing  Mr.  Roose 
velt  and  seeing  a  vacant  seat  by  his  side  fearlessly 
climbed  into  it.  Though  he  had  a  manuscript  in  his 
hand,  he  laid  it  aside  and  began  to  talk  to  the  little 
girl.  When  the  mother,  finally  catching  up  with 
her  little  girl,  reproved  her  for  taking  the  liberty  of 
thus  seating  herself,  Mr.  Roosevelt  restrained  her 
and  said  he  was  gratified  to  see  that  she  knew  him 
and  sought  his  company.  Mr.  Roosevelt  then  arose 
and  gave  his  seat  to  Mrs.  Bowman  and  the  little  girl 
and  went  to  sit  with  a  colored  man. 

While  calling  on  Queen  Alexandra  subsequent  to 
the  funeral  of  King  Edward,  he  heard  "little  squeals 
in  the  hall."  When  he  left  the  Queen,  he  found 
Prince  Olaf  waiting  outside  the  door  and  recog 
nized  the  "squeals."  The  "royal"  boy  would  not  go 


160  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

to  dinner  but  waited  to  have  a  "romp"  with  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  who  said,  "I  tossed  him  in  the  air  and 
rolled  him  on  the  floor  while  he  shouted  with  de 
light."  The  noise  of  the  "romp"  had  attracted  the 
Queen,  who  came  out  and  looked  on  with  distinct 
pleasure  in  her  face. 

Thomas  A.  Robbins,  a  prominent  business  man,  re 
counts  the  visit  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  his  house  for  a 
formal  breakfast  with  prominent  men.  While  he 
was  taking  off  his  own  overcoat  Mr.  Roosevelt  rushed 
up  three  flights  of  stairs  with  the  "boy"  and  was 
soon  stretched  out  on  the  floor  with  the  lad  before 
a  miniature  electric  train  and  was  saying,  "That's 
right,  Tommy,  safety  first."  He  had  forgotten  all 
about  the  waiting  dignitaries  downstairs. 

Edward  Bok,  in  his  Autobiography,  describes  an 
experience  when  his  "lad,"  who  had  nearly  died  with 
typhoid  fever,  was  told  that  he  could  have  for  his 
Christmas  present  anything  he  requested.  When 
told  to  think  about  it,  he  replied:  "But  I  know 
already.  I  want  to  be  taken  down  to  Washington 
to  see  the  President."  The  trip  was  finally  arranged, 
and  Mr.  Roosevelt  turned  away  from  various  groups 
of  importunate  callers  during  business  hours  to  talk 
and  visit  in  a  familiar  way  with  the  lad.  The  nation 
can  always  trust  a  man  whom  youth  seeks  out  in 
this  way. 

He  was  constantly  forging  through  a  crowd  to 
give  attention  to  a  crippled  or  a  sick  child.  An  in 
curably  sick  little  girl  was  carried  on  a  stretcher  to 
the  curb  in  a  Portland,  Oregon,  street  so  that  she 
could  see  the  President.  He  noticed  her,  stopped  his 


A  COURTEOUS  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND    161 

carriage,  ran  over  and  kissed  her  and  then  the  pro 
cession  moved  again. 

During  the  summer  of  1905  amidst  heavy  duties 
he  stopped  for  a  day  and  visited  a  children's  hospital 
dedicated  to  the  cure  of  tubercular  bone  disease. 
He  then  broke  a  very  rigid  rule  and  issued  an  appeal 
for  financial  aid  for  the  institution.  The  same  sum 
mer  he  accepted  the  vice-presidency  of  the  Public 
Schools  Athletic  League  and  wrote  the  president, 
General  G.  W.  Wingate,  that  the  systematic  athletic 
drill  given  the  boys  was  "a  service  of  utmost  impor 
tance  not  merely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  physical 
but  also  from  the  standpoint  of  the  ethical." 

It  was  as  natural  for  him  to  glow  with  friendliness 
as  for  the  stars  to  shine,  and  he  was  as  true.  He  cul 
tivated  his  human  nature  to  be  sensitive  to  the  needs 
of  humanity  as  the  artist  does  his  aesthetic  nature  to 
be  sensitive  to  beauty.  He  responded  to  appeals — 
expressed  or  unexpressed — as  readily  and  as  satisfy- 
ingly  as  the  mountain-fed  springs  do  to  the  thirst 
of  the  traveler.  He  poured  out  helpful  fellowship 
in  the  full  confidence  that  God  was  humanity's 
Father  and  he  felt  that  therefore  no  kindness  fell  on 
unproductive  soil.  He  was  a  friend  to  man  because 
man  was  a  member  of  his  Father's  family. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE 

"The  rule  of  brotherhood  remains  as  the  indispensable 
prerequisite  to  success  in  the  kind  of  national  life  for 
which  we  strive." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

They  helped  every  one  his  neighbor;  and  every  one  said 
to  his  brother,  Be  of  good  courage. — Isa.  1\1.  6. 

MRS.  CORINNE  ROOSEVELT  ROBINSON, 
the  sister  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  in  a  brief  ad 
dress  at  the  exercises  when  the  corner  stone 
was  laid  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  family  home 
in  New  York,  said : 

As  Washington  was  known  as  the  father  of  his  people, 
and  as  Lincoln  was  known  as  the  saviour  of  his  people, 
so  my  brother  will  be  known  as  the  brother  of  his  people. 

That  was  an  apt  and  inspired  title  to  give  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  and  it  completely  fills  the  Christian  ideal. 
Washington  proclaimed  the  doctrine  of  man's  equal 
brotherhood  by  establishing  the  republic,  Lincoln  set 
tled  its  sincerity  by  freeing  the  slaves,  and  Roosevelt 
applied  it  practically  by  banishing  the  practice  of 
giving  special  privileges  to  favored  folk. 

Henry  W.  Stoddard,  editor  of  The  Evening  Mail, 
New  York,  said  to  me: 

The  biggest  thing  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  for  his  nation  was 
to  establish  the  equality  of  all  before  the  law.  He  asserted 

162 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        163 

and  confirmed  the  right  to  regulate  capital  and  to  allow 
neither  rich  nor  poor,  high  nor  low,  as  such,  any  special 
and  peculiar  privileges.  Wealth  felt  itself  to  be  supreme 
and  had  secured  special  consideration  and  was  exerting 
abnormal  power.  The  ability  of  the  government  to  rectify 
this  condition  had  been  established  by  John  Marshall,  but 
the  truth  was  sleeping  and  the  masses  seemed  helpless. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  began  the  fight  early  and  won  the  signal 
victory,  that  settled  the  matter,  in  the  Northern  Securities 
case.  He  set  the  nation  free  for  further  development  by 
thus  fixing  in  a  practical  way  the  native  equality  of  all 
citizens  of  America. 

The  next  greatest  thing  he  did  was  to  awaken  the  sense 
of  responsibility  and  the  ideal  of  man's  brotherhood  in  all 
the  world  by  steady  and  sane  appeals  that  finally  put  the 
spirit  of  war  into  the  nation.  A  large  part  of  the  people 
lacked  it  because  rocked  to  sleep  in  a  selfish  security  which 
admitted  no  responsibility  for  the  world's  condition. 

He  did  not  believe  that  God  was  a  respecter  of 
persons.  He  refused  to  be  counted  as  different  from 
his  fellows;  he  was  in  all  matters  very  much  like 
other  people.  He  always  minimized  his  native  gifts. 
In  refusing  to  aid  Mr.  Richard  Watson  Gilder  gather 
material  about  his  boyhood  he  admitted  that  he 
always  shrank  from  having  a  sketch  of  his  "younger 
days"  prepared.  "Perhaps  my  reason  is  that  .  .  . 
they  were  absolutely  commonplace.  ...  It  was  not 
until  I  was  sixteen  that  I  began  to  show  any  prowess 
or  even  ordinary  capacity."  To  Julian  Street  he 
disclaimed  being  a  genius  either  as  a  writer  or  an 
orator,  and  added,  "If  I  have  anything  at  all  resem 
bling  genius,  it  is  a  gift  of  leadership."  Then  he 
added,  with  a  serious  air:  "To  tell  the  truth,  I 
like  to  believe  that,  by  what  I  have  accomplished 


164  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

without  great  gifts,  I  may  be  a  source  of  encourage 
ment  to  American  boys." 

Mr.  McGrath,  once  his  trusted  secretary,  told  me : 

He  had  such  great  intellectual  gifts  that  he  caught  things 
so  quickly  and  could  hold  them  so  reliably  that  it  took  less 
time  to  become  informed  than  it  did  most  men.  He  had 
time,  therefore,  for  his  family  and  humanizing  pursuits 
which  other  men  doing  the  same  amount  of  work  would 
not  have  had,  and  he  was  wise  enough  to  follow  them. 
Nothing  could  deprive  him  of  the  exercise  he  needed,  so 
that  his  nerves  might  be  under  control.  He  knew  that  his 
physical  condition  would  affect  both  his  mind  and  temper. 

He  constantly  spent  himself  to  have  the  best  pos 
sible  mental  equipment  so  that  he  could  meet  his 
responsibilities.  President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler, 
of  Columbia  University,  told  me  that  one  day,  two 
years  after  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  succeeded  to  the  Presi 
dency  and  during  a  visit  he  remarked,  incidentally, 
"Theodore,  if  you  are  not  careful,  you  will  dry  up 
mentally.  Most  office-holders  allow  details  to  occupy 
their  attention  and  cease  reading."  A  few  days  after 
that  President  Butler  received  a  note  from  Mr. 
Roosevelt  in  which  he  said,  "I  reviewed  my  reading 
after  you  spoke  to  me  about  it  and  on  the  way  to 
Oyster  Bay,  I  made  a  list  of  the  books  I  could  re 
member  having  read  during  the  past  two  years." 
The  list,  which  he  made  from  memory,  contained 
nearly  three  hundred  titles  and  authors.  Among 
them  were  Herodotus,  ^Eschylus,  Euripides,  six  vol 
umes  of  Mahaffy's  Studies  of  the  Greek  World,  Ma- 
han's  Types  of  Naval  Officers,  Mcolay's  Lincoln  and 
two  volumes  of  Lincoln's  speeches  and  writings,  Ba- 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        165 

con's  Essays,  five  of  Shakespeare's  plays,  Paradise 
Lost,  two  of  Maspero's  volumes  on  Early  Assyrian, 
Chaldean,  and  Egyptian  civilizations,  Dante's  In 
ferno,  Lounsbury's  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  Tom 
Sawyer,  Wagner's  Simple  Life,  various  books  on  the 
Boer  War,  Pike's  Through  the  Sun-Arctic  Forest, 
London's  Call  of  the  Wild,  Fox's  The  Little  Shep 
herd  of  Kingdom  Come,  Wister's  The  Virginian,  and 
so  on.  The  list  when  perused  seems  almost  unbe 
lievable.  His  mental  alertness  and  furnishing  were 
not  an  accident. 

J.  H.  Spurgeon,  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Ledger, 
told  me  that  when  he  returned  from  Europe  with 
Mr.  Roosevelt  on  one  occasion  there  were  for 
some  reason  four  captains  from  the  German  navy 
on  board.  They  gave  a  dinner  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
"invited  two  or  three  of  us  who  happened  to  be  on 
board.  I  noticed  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  conversed  with 
these  captains  about  their  navy  and  told  them  in 
detail  many  facts  which  even  they  themselves  did  not 
know  about  their  own  navy.  He  was  thoroughly 
posted  concerning  it." 

He  early  felt  his  responsibility  to  his  fellows  and 
so  employed  his  gifts  where  they  would  best  de 
velop. 

In  his  first  message  to  Congress  he  said : 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  the  rule  of  brotherhood  re 
mains  as  the  indispensable  prerequisite  to  success  in  the 
kind  of  national  life  for  which  we  strive.  Each  man  must 
work  for  himself,  and  unless  he  so  works  no  outside  help 
can  avail  him;  but  each  man  must  remember  also  that  he  is 
indeed  his  brother's  keeper,  and  that  while  no  man  who 


166  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

refuses  to  walk  can  be  carried  with  advantage  to  himself 
or  anyone  else,  yet  that  each  at  times  stumbles  or  halts, 
that  each  at  times  needs  to  have  the  helping  hand  out 
stretched  to  him. 

Once  in  speaking  of  his  belief  in  God,  he  said,  "And 
by  God  I  mean  the  brotherhood  of  man." 

Speaking  to  college  students,  he  recognized  the 
added  ability  an  education  gave  them  and  remarked : 
"From  those  to  whom  much  has  been  given  we  have 
biblical  authority  to  expect  and  demand  much,  and 
the  most  that  can  be  given  to  any  man  is  an  educa 
tion." 

"Perhaps  not  a  little  of  our  affection  for  him  arose 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  very  human,  which  is  only 
another  way  of  saying  that  he  had  faults,"  said  his 
trusted  friend,  Dean  Lewis. 

Jacob  A.  Riis  adds : 

And  has  he,  then,  no  faults,  this  hero  of  mine?  Yes,  he 
has,  and  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  I  want  a  live  man  for  a  friend 
and  not  a  dead  saint.  They  are  the  only  ones,  I  notice,  who 
have  no  faults. 

A  trusted  friend  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  said  to  me  that 
Mr.  Roosevelt  once  told  him  that  the  greatest  battle 
in  his  life  had  been  with  his  temper,  and  that  he  had 
never  been  able  to  control  it  completely  until  he  en 
tered  the  White  House. 

He  seldom  displayed  his  feelings,  but  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  he  often  felt  the  lack  of  ap 
preciation  shown  by  his  fellows.  He  wrote  a  friend : 

In  the  [Barnes]  libel  suit,  that  has  just  ended,  the  thing 
that  to  me  was  most  painfully  evident  was  that  at  least 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        167 

nine  tenths  of  the  men  of  light  and  leading  and  a  very 
marked  majority  of  the  people  as  a  whole  desired  my 
defeat. 

In  the  same  letter  he  naively  tells  a  story  of  Confed 
erate  days  which  suggests  that  he  sometimes  grew 
dispirited  in  the  conflicts.  Dr.  Polk,  then  of  New 
York,  was  inspector-general  in  the  Confederacy  and 
was  sent  to  the  rear  just  before  Appomattox  to  hurry 
up  the  stragglers.  He  spoke  to  one  lank,  half-starved 
soldier  as  he  plowed  through  the  mud :  "Hurry  up, 
my  man,  hurry  up."  Whereupon  the  North  Caro 
linian  looked  gloomily  at  him,  shook  his  head,  and 
remarked  as  he  walked  by,  "If  I  ever  love  another 
country,  damn  me." 

Naturally,  this  real  human  being  craved  for  com 
mendation  and  approval.  Lawrence  Abbott,  out  of 
an  intimate  knowledge,  writes: 

No  man  that  I  have  known  liked  personal  approval  more 
than  Roosevelt.  He  had  a  kind  of  childlike  responsiveness 
to  commendation  and  praise.  He  did  not  wear  his  heart 
on  his  sleeve,  but  I  think  he  was  really  hurt  when  those 
to  whom  he  was  attached  were  displeased  with  him. 

After  receiving  a  letter  of  commendation  from 
the  late  D.  D.  Thompson,  then  editor  of  the  North 
western  Christian  Advocate,  he  wrote  him : 

No  man  who  is  President  ought  to  wish  any  further  re 
ward;  but  if  I  wished  for  one,  I  could  imagine  none  greater 
than  to  receive  your  letter  and  feel  the  spirit  that  lies  be 
hind  it.  Now,  my  dear  sir,  you  have  throughout  my  term 
as  President  given  me  heart  and  strength  in  more  ways 
than  one,  and  I  thank  you  most  deeply. 


168  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  was  greatly  encouraged  when  the  so-called 
"common"  people  were  found  backing  him.  He 
wanted  to  be  at  home  with  them  as  was  the  "Car 
penter  of  Nazareth."  In  a  letter  to  Trevelyan  he 
recounts  the  visit  of  three  "back-country  farmers," 
who  after  much  effort  had  succeeded  in  getting  to 
him  and  explained  that  they  "hadn't  anything  what 
ever  to  ask."  They  came  merely  to  express  their 
belief  "in  me"  and  "as  one  rugged  old  fellow  put  it, 
'We  want  to  shake  that  honest  hand.7  Now,  this 
anecdote  seems  rather  sentimental  as  I  tell  it.  ... 
They  have  made  me  feel  that  I  am  under  a  big  debt 
of  obligation  to  the  good  people  of  this  country."  He 
coveted  the  confidence  of  the  people. 

Jacob  A.  Riis  reports  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  feeling  that 
coming  into  the  Presidency  from  the  Vice-Presidency 
he  did  not  really  have  back  of  him  the  votes  of  the 
people.  "He  would  like  to  sit  in  the  White  House 
elected  by  the  people."  He  merely  wanted  it  as  a 
vote  of  confidence.  He  himself  said  previous  to  the 
election  of  1904:  "I  do  not  believe  in  playing  the 
hypocrite.  Any  strong  man  fit  to  be  President 
would  desire  a  renomination  and  reelection  after  his 
first  term,"  just  as  McKinley,  or  Cleveland,  or  Wash 
ington  did.  While  "it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  one's 
countrymen  think  well  of  him,"  yet  he  only  wants 
the  office  if  "decent  citizens  will  believe  I  have 
shown  wisdom,  integrity,  and  courage." 

He  seldom  gave  way  to  the  "blues,"  but  he  never 
theless  had  to  battle  them.  Mr.  Loeb  told  me,  "He 
had  times  of  depression  usually  caused  by  the  fact 
that  things  did  not  come  along  as  fast  as  he  had  a 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        1G9 

right  to  expect."  His  faith  in  God  restored  his  hope 
fulness. 

Mr.  Stoddard  said,  "He  greatly  needed  to  have 
men  show  that  they  had  confidence  in  him."  Mr. 
Roosevelt  wrote  "Bill"  Sewall,  "Sometimes  I  feel  a 
little  melancholy  because  it  is  so  hard  to  persuade 
people  to  accept  equal  justice." 

He  was  able  to  overcome  lowness  of  spirit  by  keep 
ing  himself  in  such  excellent  physical  trim  that  he 
secured  the  benefits  of  the  exalting  thrills  which 
come  from  enjoyable,  vigorous  exercise.  And  he 
fully  appreciated  all  the  details  of  his  vacation 
periods  and  their  possible  fellowship  with  friends. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stoddard  spent  seven  weeks  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  at  Trinidad,  West  Indies.  Mrs. 
Stoddard,  who  was  up  at  sunrise  the  first  morning 
to  enjoy  the  flowers  at  their  best,  found  Mr.  Roose 
velt  already  reveling  in  the  color,  artistry,  and 
fragrance  of  the  wonderful  gardens,  before  the  dis 
tracting  noises  began.  He  was  very  careful  to  do 
the  things  that  kept  him  distinctly  human. 

He  was  genuinely  grieved  by  the  charge  that  he 
was  "war  mad,"  and  greedy  to  fight,  and  told  Julian 
Street : 

Every  man  has  a  soft  and  easy  side  to  him.  I  speak  now 
out  of  the  abundance  of  my  own  heart.  I'm  a  domestic 
man.  I  have  always  wanted  to  be  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
and  my  children  and  now  with  my  grandchildren.  I'm 
not  a  brawler.  I  detest  war.  But  if  war  came,  I'd  have  to 
go,  and  my  four  boys  would  go  too,  because  we  have  ideals 
in  this  family.1 


'Taken  from  Julian  Street's    The  Most  Interesting  American,  by  permission 
of  the  Publishers,  The  Century  Co. 


170  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Most  folk  with  his  make-up  would  refuse  to  appear 
in  motion  pictures,  since  he  loathed  the  bizarre  and 
avoided  mere  display.  But  he  saw  an  opportunity 
to  extend  his  influence  in  a  proposition  to  make  a 
film  reproducing  his  life.  At  the  same  time,  how 
ever,  his  heart  went  out  to  the  "soldier  boys"  and  he 
stipulated  secretly  that  all  the  profits  should  go  to 
the  "Red  Cross"  or  other  war  organizations  during 
the  war.  When  the  armistice  was  signed  he  felt  that 
the  "boys"  would  need  entertainment  more  than 
ever,  and  then  directed  that  the  profits  should  con 
tinue  to  be  so  used  "until  all  of  the  men  are  returned 
to  their  homes  from  the  war." 

He  was  never  stilted  nor  was  he  starched  with 
artificiality.  Though  somewhat  surprised,  he  yet 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  a  meeting  held  on  his  ship 
while  visiting  Porto  Rico  by  a  club  made  up  mostly 
of  enlisted  men  in  honor  of  our  "comrade  and  ship 
mate,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 
States."  The  gathering  reminded  him  of  his  lodge 
at  Oyster  Bay  where  the  "shipwrights,  railroad  men, 
and  fishermen"  he  met  were  of  the  same  type.  He 
mingled  with  folks  in  a  normal  way — he  was  a  real 
human  being  who  could  be  a  brother. 

He  recounts  the  visit  of  one  of  his  prize-fight 
friends  who  "explained  that  he  wanted  to  see  me 
alone,"  and  then  sitting  down,  offered  him  an  ex 
pensive  cigar.  When  informed  that  he  did  not 
smoke,  he  said,  "  'Put  it  in  your  pocket.'  This  I 
accordingly  did."  Here  is  the  real  spirit  of 
camaradrie. 

He  had  no  patience  with  the  truckler,  and  so  he 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        171 

said,  "It  is  just  as  much  a  confession  of  inferiority 
to  feel  mean  hatred  and  defiance  of  a  man  as  it  is  to 
feel  a  mean  desire  to  please  him  overmuch."  It  is 
a  confession  in  either  case  "that  the  man  is  not  as 
good  as  the  man  whom  he  hates  and  envies  or  before 
whom  he  truckles." 

Like  Lincoln,  he  saved  himself  from  heavy  strain 
by  a  real  enjoyment  of  fun.  It  must,  however,  al 
ways  be  clean.  One  day  while  visiting  him,  Lawrence 
Abbott  was  surprised  to  see  the  President  leap  out 
of  his  chair  and  grasp  Senator  Tom  Carter  by  the 
hands  and  go  dancing  back  and  forth  over  the  floor 
chanting : 

"Oh,  the  Irish  and  the  Dutch— 
They  don't  amount  to  much, 
But  huroo  for  the  Scandinoo-vian." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  afterward  explained  that  Senator 
Carter  was  a  "standpatter"  who  considered  him 
(Mr.  Roosevelt)  a  "visionary  crank,"  and  therefore 
they  differed  in  politics.  Mr.  Roosevelt  continued: 

Now,  Senator  Carter  is  Irish  and  I  am  Dutch,  and  we 
thought  it  was  a  very  good  joke  on  us.  So  every  time  we 
have  met  since,  unless  there  are  too  many  people  about, 
we  are  apt  to  greet  each  other  as  we  did  just  now. 

He  laughed  much  as  he  recounted  the  interpretive 
nicknames  given  by  his  Rough  Riders  to  each  other. 
He  tells  us  that  a  fastidious  private,  an  Easterner, 
was  called  "Tough  Ike,"  while  his  bunkie,  a  rough 
cowpuncher,  was  called  "The  Dude."  A  huge  red 
headed  Irishman  was  called  "Sheeny  Solomon,"  while 
one  of  the  best  fighters,  a  young  Jew,  was  called 


172  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"Pork  Chops."  A  very  quiet  fellow  was  called  "Hell- 
Roarer,"  while  a  profane  scanip  was  titled  "Prayer 
ful  James." 

He  was  so  human  that  he  could  interpret  all  kinds 
of  folks.  Senator  Hoar  once  called  on  the  Presi 
dent  and  in  horrified  accents  asked  if  he  knew  any 
thing  about  "this  man  Daniels  whom  you  have  ap 
pointed  to  be  marshal  of  Arizona?"  Mr.  Roosevelt 
answered :  "Yes,  I  think  so.  He  was  a  member  of 
my  regiment."  "Do  you  know,"  asked  Mr.  Hoar,  im 
pressively,  "that  he  has  killed  two  men?"  The  Presi 
dent,  with  a  startled  look,  said,  "Is  that  so?  I  must 
call  him  on  the  carpet  immediately,  for  he  only 
told  me  about  killing  one."  The  Senator  left,  know 
ing  that  he  had  lost  his  case.  He  frequently  "joked" 
people  out  of  court. 

In  his  Pacific  Theological  Lectures,  he  affirms: 
"My  plea  is  for  the  virtue  that  shall  be  strong  and 
that  shall  have  a  good  time.  You  recollect  that  Wes 
ley  said  he  wasn't  going  to  leave  all  the  good  time 
to  the  devil." 

His  happy  spirit  kept  him  so  human  and  young 
that  he  was  always  the  "Big  Brother"  of  the  boys, 
and  the  service  which  Mr.  Bok  proposed  toward  the 
end  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  life  would  have  been  ideal. 
In  his  Autobiography  Mr.  Bok  relates  how  he  in 
formed  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  he  wanted  to  invest 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  a  year  in  boyhood  "who 
will  be  the  manhood  of  to-morrow,"  by  paying  him 
that  salary  as  head  of  the  Boy  Scouts.  Immediately 
the  plan  appealed  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  at  first  sug 
gested  that  "there  are  men  in  it  that  don't  approve 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE   173 

of  me  at  all."  Warming  to  the  plan  to  build  the 
four  hundred  thousand  Scouts  to  a  million,  he  asked, 
"You  mean  for  me  to  be  the  active  head?"  and  was 
reminded  that  he  could  be  nothing  else.  After  a  while 
he  replied: 

I'd  love  doing  it;  by  Jove!  it  would  be  wonderful  to  rally 
a  million  boys  for  real  Americanism  as  you  say.  It  looms 
up  as  I  think  it  over.  Suppose  we  let  it  simmer  for  a 
month  or  two. 

But  when  the  "month  or  two"  had  elapsed,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  had  crossed  to  the  other  shore,  and  Mr. 
Bok's  splendid  plan  became  impossible. 

He  was  aroused  as  in  no  other  way  by  anyone's 
questioning  his  integrity.  When  vigorous  opponents 
questioned  his  actual  fighting  in  Cuba,  he  imme 
diately  collected  evidence  from  officers  and  privates 
and  gave  their  irrefutable  testimony  wide  circu 
lation. 

I  sat  near  him  in  Madison  Square  Garden  when 
he  spoke  in  favor  of  the  candidacy  of  John  Purroy 
Mitchel  for  mayor  of  New  York.  While  urging 
hearty  support  of  the  war  a  rough  voice  interrupted, 
"Why  aren't  you  over  there  ?"  The  audience  would 
have  handled  the  interrupter  roughly,  but  Mr.  Roose 
velt  quieted  them  with,  "Let  me  handle  him."  In 
dignation  was  white  hot.  He  had  written  Theodore 
Jr.,  "It  is  very  bitter  to  me  that  all  of  you,  the 
young,  should  be  facing  death  while  I  sit  in  ease 
and  safety."  All  knew  how  eager  he  was  to  go 
abroad  and  fight.  But  he  controlled  himself  and 
said  with  the  bite  he  alone  could  put  into  it : 


174  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Listen,  you  creature.  They  would  not  let  me  go,  but  I 
sent  my  four  sons,  every  one  of  whose  lives  is  a  thousand 
times  dearer  to  me  than  my  own.  And  then  you  dare  to 
ask  me,  an  American  father,  such  a  question? 

He  could  use  satire  when  necessary,  as  when  some 
one  had  made  an  exasperatingly  false  charge  and  he 
was  asked: 

Will  you  reply?  "To  that  miserable  creature?"  he  asked. 
"I  doubt  if  it's  worth  while.  He  reminds  me  of  a  cock 
roach,  creeping  over  the  marble  floor.  It  is  just  a  question 
whether  it  is  better  to  crush  the  cockroach  or  to  refrain 
from  staining  the  marble." 

But,  like  "Another,"  he  could  take  abuse  in  si 
lence  when  it  was  aimed  at  him  as  a  leader  of  the 
people.  During  the  Progressive  campaign,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  was  called  a  Benedict  Arnold,  a  Judas 
Iscariot,  and  every  other  creature  that  wild  lan 
guage  could  describe,  but  he  went  straight  on  feeling 
their  stabs  but  enduring  them  like  a  good  soldier. 
When  McKinley  was  assassinated,  many  charged  the 
deed  to  the  abuse  of  the  press  couched  in  cartoon 
and  editorial.  When  Schrank,  who  shot  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  was  arrested,  he  asserted  that  he  was  impelled 
by  the  abusive  charges  in  the  newspapers.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  told  intimate  friends  that  he  expected  this 
abuse  to  bring  a  physical  attack  upon  him. 

He  detested  the  scandalmonger  and  character  as 
sassin.  In  his  Pacific  Theological  Lectures  he 
straightly  charges  that  the  man  "who  poisons  their 
minds  is  as  reprehensible  a  scoundrel  ...  as  the 
man  who  poisons  their  bodies."  Again  he  says: 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        175 

I  abhor  a  thief  and  I  abhor  a  liar  as  much  as  I  abhor 
a  thief.  I  abhor  the  assassin  who  tries  to  kill  a  man;  I 
abhor  almost  equally  the  assassin  of  that  man's  character. 
The  infamy  of  the  creature  who  tries  to  assassinate  an 
upright  and  honest  public  servant  doing  his  duty  is  no 
greater  than  the  infamy  of  the  creature  who  tries  to  as 
sassinate  an  honest  man's  character. 

He  insisted  that  not  only  is  the  man  wronged,  but  the 
public  is  wronged  by  being  made  to  think  that  all 
public  officials  are  crooked  so  that  even  a  crook  will 
be  put  in  office  by  the  saying,  "Oh,  well,  I  guess  he's 
no  worse  than  the  rest ;  they  are  all  pretty  bad." 

If  you  once  get  the  public  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  you 
have  done  more  than  can  be  done  in  any  other  way  toward 
ruining  our  citizenship,  toward  ruining  popular  govern 
mental  honesty  and  efficiency  (Realizable  Ideals,  p.  142). 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  never  unreasonably  hard  on  a 
sincerely  repentant  man  or  one  who  was  on  the 
wrong  side  because  of  ignorance,  or  limited  privi 
leges.  But  if  a  man  who  had  mental  and  moral 
privileges  was  crooked,  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  not 
spare  him. 

He  held  no  grievances  to  be  repaid  later.  Mr. 
Stoddard  said,  "If  he  had  a  difference  with  another 
person  and  a  conclusion  was  reached  after  a  'talk,' 
the  matter  was  closed  with  him  if  it  was  with  you." 

Charles  E.  Jefferson  quotes  Burne-Jones  as  saying, 
"Make  the  most  of  our  best  for  others — that  is  the 
universal  religion."  This  might  easily  have  been  the 
motto  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  General  Leonard  Wood 
said,  when  the  cornerstone  was  laid  for  the  restora- 


176  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

tion  of  the  Roosevelt  homestead,  which  is  to  be  used 
for  Americanization  in  lower  New  York: 

The  motto  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  "I  serve."  It  interprets 
his  whole  career.  It  speaks  from  all  his  deeds.  If  we  can 
impress  it  on  the  hearts  of  childhood  together  with  his 
ideals,  then  our  nation  will  last  forever. 

The  Rev.  Henry  L.  Everett,  a  Jersey  City  clergy 
man,  tells  of  a  visit  President  Roosevelt  made  to 
Williams  College.  Mr.  Everett  was  chairman  of  a 
student  reception  committee,  which  gave  him  the  op 
portunity  for  a  personal  chat.  Mr.  Roosevelt  asked 
him  where  he  expected  to  invest  his  life.  "I  an 
swered,  'I  will  become  either  a  lawyer  or  a  minis 
ter.'  "  Promptly  the  President  replied :  "Fine !  you 
can  make  either  of  them  a  ministry.  You  young 
men  won't  believe  it,  but  real  success  in  any  line 
must  be  service."  The  Master  said,  "I  am  among 
you  as  he  that  serveth." 

Mrs.  Robinson  said  to  me : 

While  my  father  saw  that  Theodore  received  an 
intellectual  training,  that  was  secondary.  His  main 
emphasis  was  along  social  and  religious  lines.  My  father 
himself  endeavored  to  use  any  unusual  knowledge  or 
privileged  position  or  fine  culture  for  the  benefit  of  those 
in  a  less  privileged  position.  He  never  gave  immediate 
material  aid  to  an  applicant;  but,  taking  the  address,  he 
would  send  some  member  of  the  family  to  investigate  the 
real  need.  He  taught  Theodore  that  while  he  might  leave 
him  enough  wealth  to  be  independent  of  remunerative  toil, 
he  must  labor  just  the  same  in  some  line  of  service  for 
his  fellows. 

Again  she  told  me,  "I  never  asked  my  brother  to 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        177 

do  a  single  thing  for  me  that  he  refused  to  do.  It 
mattered  not  how  busy  or  how  difficult  my  request, 
he  did  it  joyfully  and  never  with  complaint." 

He  was  greatly  disgusted  with  the  mere  money- 
getter.  He  was  an  aristocrat  by  birth,  but  he  used 
the  culture  and  confidence  this  gave  him  to 
strengthen  him  for  service.  Referring  to  the  charge 
that  he  wanted  to  be  "king  of  America"  after  his 
long  tour  in  Europe,  he  replied  that  his  accusers 
either  did  not  know  him  or  did  not  understand  the 
position  of  a  king,  who  was  a  "cross  between  a  Vice- 
President  and  the  leader  of  the  400."  To  further  em 
phasize  his  repugnance  he  remarked:  "I  felt  if  I 
met  another  king  I  should  bite  him."  He  referred  to 
one  particularly  fussy  monarch  he  met  as  "nothing 
but  a  twittering  wagtail." 

He  enjoyed  and  learned  from  actual  fellowship 
with  all  kinds  of  people  in  all  walks  of  life.  The 
French  ambassador,  Jusserand,  often  went  swim 
ming  with  him  in  Rock  Creek.  He  wrote  Miss 
Carow  about  a  unique  picnic  arranged  by  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Roosevelt:  "Spec  [Von  Sternberg,  the 
German  ambassador,  whom  he  greatly  loved]  rode 
with  Edith  [Mrs.  Roosevelt]  and  me  looking  more 
like  Hans  Christian  Andersen's  little  tin  soldier 
than  ever."  He  had  come  out  in  his  Hussar  uniform 
to  present  his  credentials  as  ambassador.  After  the 
ceremony  was  over,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said,  "I  told  him 
to  put  on  civilized  raiment,  which  he  did."  Then  he 
remained  a  couple  of  days  and  we  "chopped  and 
shot  and  rode  together." 
While  discussing  hunting  one  day  in  Europe  he 


178  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

told  King  Haakon  of  Norway  about  acting  as  a 
"deputy"  under  "Sheriff"  Seth  Bullock  when  they 
gathered  around  the  body  of  a  dead  desperado  as 
English  bird  hunters  might  and  say,  "My  bird,  I  be 
lieve."  Then  Mr.  Roosevelt  suddenly  decided  to  see 
this  "royal  life"  through  the  eyes  of  a  comradely 
plainsman,  and  he  cabled  Seth  Bullock,  of  the  Da- 
kotas,  to  meet  him  in  London.  Kermit  tells  us  that 
the  first  remark  "Seth"  made  on  arriving  was  that 
"he  was  so  glad  to  see  father  that  he  felt  like  hang 
ing  his  hat  on  the  dome  of  Saint  Paul's  and  shooting 
it  off." 

He  was  at  home  with  all  types  and  interrogated 
them  for  information  and  utilized  it  for  service  to 
his  fellows.  One  day,  going  through  the  White 
House,  he  found  a  group  of  painters  at  work  and 
asked  them,  "How  much  do  you  get  a  day?"  They 
replied,  "Three  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents."  Then 
he  said,  "That  is  mighty  good  pay  for  such  pleasant 
work."  He  then  took  a  brush,  covered  a  good  sized 
space  with  paint  and  told  them  he  once  thought  he 
would  like  to  be  a  painter  because  "you  can  see  some 
thing  accomplished  with  each  stroke  of  the  brush." 

Mr.  Thompson  told  me  that  he  had  seen  him  again 
and  again  on  long  trips  go  out  of  his  way  to  shake 
hands  with  some  humble  laborer.  "It  was  not  stage 
play  but  it  was  as  natural  as  his  attention  to  chil 
dren,  whom  he  dearly  loved."  He  felt  akin  to  every 
body,  as  does  the  true  son  of  God. 

When  he  visited  the  Panama  Canal  while  it  was 
under  construction,  he  went  everywhere  among  the 
men,  splashing  through  mud  and  ignoring  dangers 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        179 

and  asking  questions  and  refusing  to  be  f6ted  and 
entertained.  He  became  one  of  the  men  in  very 
spirit.  One  day  a  group  of  machinists  cried  out, 
"Teddy's  all  right,"  and  he  instantly  replied : 

You  are  all  right,  and  I  wish  there  were  enough  of  me 
to  say  it  with  all  the  force  I  feel.  Every  man  who  does  his 
part  well  in  this  work  leaves  a  record  worthy  of  being 
made  by  an  American  citizen.  You  are  a  straight-out  lot 
of  Americans  and  I  am  proud  of  you.1 

He  lifted  their  work  into  the  realm  of  patriotism 
and  made  it  rightfully  appear  as  necessary  as  his 
own.  It  will  be  remembered  that  afterward  he  had 
a  bronze  medal  made  for  every  worker  on  the  canal 
which  was  presented  in  a  dignified  way. 

Lyman  Abbott  told  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  rarely 
missed  the  weekly  conference-luncheon  while  on  The 
Outlook.  He  would  enter  into  the  discussions 
heartily  and  in  a  commonplace  way  call  out  the 
opinions  of  the  youngest  men  present : 

He  would  listen  too  if  they  said  anything  worth  while. 
If  the  conference  drifted  into  mere  talk,  he  would  not  be 
impatient  or  say  a  word,  but  would  quietly  take  something 
out  of  his  pocket  and  begin  reading. 

He  would  not  easily  acquiesce  even  in  a  discussion 
with  a  dear  friend.  But  he  was  patient  in  hearing 
and  answering  the  argument  of  anyone.  He  would 
never  ride  them  down  ruthlessly  with  "superior" 
wisdom  and  a  dogmatic  conclusion.  Dr.  Lambert, 

Reprinted  by  permission  of  The  Macmillan  Company,  from  Theodore  Roose 
velt:  The  Boy  and  the  Man,  by  James  Morgan.  Copyright,  1907,  by  The 
Macmillan  Company. 


180  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

usually  his  hunting  companion  and  always  his  inti 
mate  friend,  talked  with  me  freely  along  this  line: 

Theodore  never  let  go  of  himself.  He  did  nothing  care 
lessly.  He  was  one  of  the  surest  shots  in  America  because 
he  always  used  good  judgment  and  self-control.  He  could 
pick  off  a  bear  amidst  a  pack  of  dogs  when  only  the  rarest 
skill  could  do  it.  He  often  excelled  because  he  acted 
quickly.  But  he  was  never  boastful,  nor  did  he  exultingly 
talk  about  himself. 

We  once  had  a  long  and  animated  controversy  over 
whether  he  had  hit  a  bear  in  the  right  or  left  side.  I 
showed  him  where  the  bullet  had  come  out  on  the  right 
side.  He  was  certain  that  he  had  hit  the  bear  on  that 
side.  Dr.  Rixey  and  all  the  rest  agreed.  Theodore  turned 
to  me  and  said,  "Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  what  I  saw 
was  not  so?"  The  discussion  was  getting  heated  and  so  I 
dropped  it.  The  next  day  Theodore  opened  it  up  again. 
He  had  the  evidence  of  the  bullet  which  opposed  the  evi 
dence  of  his  sight.  That  showed  that  evidence  could  not 
always  be  trusted,  and  he  was  perplexed.  Finally  I  said, 
"You  know  a  bear  is  very  lively,  and  he  was  dodging  from 
right  to  left,  striking  at  the  dogs.  You  aimed  at  the  right 
side  but  just  as  you  shot  the  bear  jumped  and  your  bullet 
hit  him  in  the  left."  He  finally  acquiesced.  He  would  stick 
for  his  view  of  a  matter  but  had  so  trained  himself  that  he 
was  not  irritable  about  it. 

He  applied  justice  in  every  case  without  respect 
to  the  standing  or  race  of  the  individual  or  group 
under  consideration.  Almost  prophetically,  he  had 
a  contest  with  the  National  Republican  Committee 
when  in  his  early  twenties  he  was  a  delegate  at 
Chicago.  The  National  Committee  had  nominated 
ex-Senator  Powell  Clayton  for  permanent  chairman, 
while  Mr.  Roosevelt  led  a  group  of  sympathizing 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        181 

"boss-busters"  determined  to  elect  ex-Congressman 
Lynch,  a  Negro.  He  asserted  in  an  address  that 
only  two  delegates  to  the  convention  had  "seats" 
on  the  National  Committee  and  that  it  was  a  reflec 
tion  on  their  (the  delegates  to  the  convention) 
"capacity  for  government"  to  allow  this  committee, 
in  those  circumstances,  to  name  a  presiding  officer 
for  the  convention. 

He  would  not  be  content  to  salve  over  a  sore;  he 
would  undertake  to  cure  it.  Lillian  Wald,  of  the 
Henry  Street  Settlement,  tells  how  Mr.  Roosevelt 
at  one  time  endeavored  to  stop  a  soup-kitchen  in  her 
neighborhood,  since  it  was  more  or  less  of  "an  in 
sulting  answer  to  a  distress  that  was  based  on  the 
fundamental  question  of  poor  pay  for  hard  jobs." 
She  said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  always  went  to  the  heart 
of  the  matter  and  investigated  the  actual  conditions 
in  the  "sweat-trade"  through  his  visits  into  the 
homes  of  the  "sweaters." 

Corporations,  on  the  one  hand,  continued  to  claim 
peculiar  privileges,  while  on  the  other,  "labor"  often 
grew  arrogant.  Mr.  Roosevelt  endeavored  to  be 
a  real  brother  to  each  and  to  put  them  on  a  brotherly 
basis. 

To  the  grasping  and  "divine-right"  capitalist,  he 
would  quote  Lincoln: 

Labor  is  prior  to,  and  independent  of,  capital.  Capital 
is  only  the  fruit  of  labor  and  could  never  have  existed  but 
for  labor.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital  and  deserves 
much  the  higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights. 
.  .  .  Nor  should  this  lead  to  a  war  upon  the  owners  of 
property.  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor;  property  is  de 
sirable;  it  is  a  positive  good  in  the  world,  Let  not  him  who 


182  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

is  houseless  pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him 
work  diligently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus,  by  ex 
ample,  showing  that  his  own  shall  be  safe  from  violence 
when  built 

Mr.  Roosevelt  made  his  impartiality  very  clear  in 
a  message  to  Congress:  "We  are  neither  for  the 
rich  man  as  such  nor  for  the  poor  man  as  such.  We 
are  for  the  upright  man,  rich  or  poor." 

But  he  also  recognized  the  fact  that  legislation 
frequently  favors  one  class  as  against  another,  and 
so  he  proposed :  "According  to  our  ability  we  intend 
to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the  mighty,  but  we  intend 
no  less  jealously  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the 
lowly."  When  a  financial  flurry  and  possible  panic 
was  threatened  by  the  "money  interests"  if  he  in 
sisted  on  certain  enactments,  he  announced  that  he 
had  always  put  down  mobs  without  question  as  to 
their  origin,  as  he  "could  no  more  tolerate  wrong 
committed  in  the  name  of  property  than  wrong  com 
mitted  against  property."  He  was  criticized  be 
cause  he  gave  names  as  he  "coupled  condemnation 
of  labor  leaders  and  condemnation  of  certain  big 
capitalists,  describing  them  all  alike  as  undesirable 
citizens."  After  severely  arraigning  the  "divine- 
right"  owners  of  the  anthracite  coal  mines  he  was 
as  unsparing  in  arraigning  the  labor-union  forces 
for  insisting  on  putting  a  man  out  of  the  govern 
ment  printing  office  because  he  was  not  a  union  man. 
He  openly  condemned  a  certain  industry  which  by 
new  machinery  and  combinations  of  factories  greatly 
increased  its  production  and  profits  without  giving 
the  employees  any  of  the  benefits.  He  said :  "This 


THE  BROTHER  OF  HIS  PEOPLE        183 

represented  an  increasing  efficiency  with  a  positive 
decrease  of  social  and  industrial  justice." 

In  the  face  of  labor's  helplessness,  when  confronted 
by  gigantic  production  organizations,  he  said : 

While  we  must  repress  all  illegalities  and  discourage  all 
immoralities,  whether  of  labor  organizations  or  of  corpora 
tions,  we  must  recognize  the  fact  that  to-day  the  organiza 
tion  of  labor  into  trade  unions  and  federations  is  necessary, 
is  beneficent,  and  is  one  of  the  greatest  possible  agencies 
in  the  attainment  of  a  true  industrial,  as  well  as  a  true 
political,  democracy  in  the  United  States. 

He  urged,  while  President,   that   the  two   groups 
should  confer  as  "partners": 

It  is  essential  that  capitalist  and  wage-worker  should 
consult  freely  one  with  the  other,  should  each  strive  to 
bring  closer  the  day  when  both  shall  realize  that  they  are 
properly  partners  and  not  enemies. 

Here  is  a  nucleus  for  the  plan,  afterward  so  largely 
adopted,  of  providing  for  governing  "councils"  or 
"boards"  made  up  of  owners  and  laborers  in  fac 
tories,  mills  and  mines. 

He  believed  and  practiced  the  doctrine  which  Paul 
preached  at  Athens,  that  God  "made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth"  (Acts  17.  26). 


CHAPTER  IX 
PUBLIC  DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED 

"Let  us  therefore  boldly  face  the  life  of  strife  .  .  .  reso 
lute  to  be  both  honest  and  brave,  to  serve  high  ideals,  yet 
to  use  practical  methods." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Who  will  go  for  us?  Then  said  I,  Here  am  I,  send  me. 
— Isa.  6.  8. 

THERE    was    no    sly    stepping,    nor    subtle 
speech,     nor    smooth    subterfuges    in    Mr. 
Roosevelt's    life    plans.      He    walked    and 
worked  in  the  open.    He  cared  nothing  for  personal 
cost  when  righteousness  was  under  consideration. 

When  first  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  he 
visited  a  saloon  with  the  "ward  leader."  When 
asked  by  the  saloonist  to  support  a  lower  license,  he 
made  inquiries  concerning  the  prevalent  rate,  and 
being  convinced  that  it  was  too  low,  he  promptly  de 
clared  that  he  would  work  for  a  higher  one.  After 
being  elected  he  introduced  such  a  bill,  and  the  Re 
publicans  were  panic-stricken,  as  it  was  as  "ad 
vanced"  as  prohibition  legislation  would  have  been 
on  the  East  Side  in  1900. 

He  was  just  as  frank  in  other  directions,  and  as 
late  as  1915  opposed  a  New  York  State  bill  making 
Bible-reading  in  the  schools  compulsory.  He  called 
it  a  fanatical  move.  While  a  member  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  he  risked  the  vigorous  opposition  of  the  Catho- 

184 


Copyright,  rmlrrwood  &  Underwood  Studios,  New  York 

MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  FAVORITE  PHOTOGRAPH 
(AND  THE  CHOICE  OF  HIS  CLOSEST  FRIENDS) 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     185 

lies  by  blocking  a  long-permitted  grant  to  a  "Catho 
lic  Protectory." 

When  refusing  to  announce  himself  as  a  candidate 
for  President  in  1912,  he  said  that  his  decision  was 
not  final,  for,  "If  the  people  should  feel  that  I  was 
the  instrument  to  be  used  at  this  time,  I  should  ac 
cept  even  although  I  knew  that  I  should  be  broken 
and  cast  aside  in  the  using." 

Senator  Platt  tried  to  frighten  him  away  from 
his  "franchise  bill"  by  classing  him  with  the  then 
much-condemned  and  greatly  ridiculed  Populists  of 
Kansas  and  warned  him  that  he  could  never  be 
elected  again  since  the  corporations  would  not  con 
tribute  to  his  campaign  and  without  their  aid  it 
was  thought  that  a  successful  campaign  could  not  be 
conducted.  He  cared  not  for  the  threatened  penalty 
but  drove  the  bill  through  the  Legislature  and 
caused  the  first  break — which  never  closed — with  the 
stand-patters. 

He  wanted  no  special  consideration  even  when 
misfortune  struck  him.  For  example,  when  he  was 
shot,  Governor  Wilson  magnanimously  offered  to 
cease  campaigning,  but  he  promptly  replied: 

Whatever  could  with  truth  and  propriety  have  been  said 
against  me  and  my  cause  before  I  was  shot  can  with  equal 
truth  and  equal  propriety  be  said  against  me  now,  and  it 
should  so  be  said;  and  the  things  that  cannot  be  said  now 
are  merely  the  things  that  ought  not  to  have  been  said  be 
fore.  This  is  not  a  contest  about  any  man — it  is  a  contest 
concerning  principles. 

When  his  death  was  announced,  Mr.  John  Wood- 
bury,  the  secretary  of  the  class,  sent  to  the  class  of 


186  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

1880  as  applying  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  a  section  from 
Bunyan,  as  follows : 

Then  he  said,  "I  am  going  to  my  Father's,  and  though 
with  great  difficulty  I  have  got  hither,  yet  now  I  do  not  re 
pent  me  of  all  the  trouble  I  have  been  at  to  arrive  where 
I  am.  My  sword  I  give  to  him  that  shall  succeed  me  in 
my  pilgrimage,  and  my  courage  and  skill  to  him  that 
can  get  it.  My  marks  and  scars  I  carry  with  me,  to  be  a 
witness  for  me  that  I  have  fought  His  battles  who  now  will 
be  my  rewarder." 

He,  like  Paul,  had  his  scars ;  and  he  was  sore  weary, 
as  was  Mr.  Valiant-for-Truth,  concerning  whom  the 
above  was  written. 

He  never  made  a  test  for  others  he  was  not  willing 
to  endure  himself.  When  he  discovered  that  army 
officers  were  loafing  physically  and  so  were  incapable 
of  prompt  out-door  leadership  if  needed,  he  issued 
an  order  requiring  every  active  officer  to  ride  horse 
back  one  hundred  miles  in  three  days.  When  vigor 
ous  protests  were  made  to  arouse  sympathy  for  some 
corpulent  generals,  the  President  himself,  in  com 
pany  with  Surgeon-General  Rixey,  rode  one  hun 
dred  miles  in  one  day  over  the  Virginia  roads,  which 
were  frozen  in  ruts  and  while  a  snowstorm  held 
sway  for  half  the  day.  In  the  same  way  he  was 
submerged  for  about  seventy  minutes  in  one  of  the 
first  of  the  modern  submarines,  during  which  time 
he  calmly  made  a  thorough  examination  of  the  vessel. 
Concerning  this  trip,  he  said:  "I  went  down  in  it 
chiefly  because  I  did  not  like  to  have  the  officers  and 
enlisted  men  think  I  wanted  them  to  try  things  I  was 
reluctant  to  try  myself." 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     187 

While  police  commissioner  he  frequently  spent  the 
whole  night — often  going  forty  hours  without  sleep 
— in  patroling  the  city  so  that  he  might  actually 
enter  into  the  life  of  the  policeman.  He  always 
wanted  to  be  sure  that  his  orders  were  "fair"  and 
never  arbitrary. 

He  never  reckoned  "success"  as  a  necessary  proof 
that  he  was  right.  When  duty's  door  opened,  he  en 
tered  and  walked  forward,  one  step  at  a  time.  After 
the  "Progressive"  defeat,  which  many  believed  would 
"break"  him,  he  wrote  in  his  Autobiography — a  work 
which  was  received  by  the  public  with  scant  en 
thusiasm  and  interest — explaining  that  his  ideal 
was  formed  on  "service"  to  be  rendered  without  any 
notion  of  appreciation  or  applause.  He  affirmed  that 
the  real  public  servant  "will  do  the  thing  that  is  next 
when  the  time  and  the  need  come  together"  and  not 
ask  what  the  future  will  bring  him.  He  will  not, 
Mr.  Roosevelt  insisted,  be  disturbed  if  another  gets 
the  credit  for  doing  what  he  started  or  made  pos 
sible,  but  will  be  happy  in  the  consciousness  that  by 
doing  well  he  has  prepared  the  way  for  the  other 
man  who  can  do  better." 

Dr.  Lambert  said  of  him : 

He  would  risk  following  a  decision  even  though  it 
promised  total  annihilation  if  it  failed.  He  was  willing  to 
take  such  a  responsibility  because  he  believed  in  the  final 
support  of  the  people.  Nothing,  however,  could  affright 
him  when  a  decision  had  been  reached.  He  would  say, 
"I  have  gone  into  it  and  I  dare  not  back  down  now." 

He  therefore  never  condemned  himself  when  an 
honest  effort  was  apparently  futile.  And  so  he 


188  KOOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

wrote  Senator  Hanna,  after  his  "Anthracite  Strike" 
appeal  failed,  that  he  was  "down-hearted  over  the 
result.  But  I  am  glad  I  tried  anyhow.  I  should  have 
hated  to  feel  that  I  had  failed  to  make  any  effort." 

His  confidence  rested  on  the  certainty  of  justice 
triumphing  in  the  end,  for  he  told  Mr.  Riis : 

It  is  a  matter  of  conviction  with  me  that  no  frank  and 
honest  man  could  be  in  the  long  run  entangled  by  the 
snares  of  plotters,  whatever  appearances  might  for  the 
moment  indicate. 

This  claims  the  promise,  "The  steps  of  a  good  man 
are  ordered  by  the  Lord." 

He  was  not  unsusceptible  to  defeat  and  victory. 
He  felt  keenly  the  injustice  done  by  the  critics  of 
Admiral  Dewey  and  expected  similar  treatment,  and 
so  expressed  himself  even  while  at  his  high  tide  of 
popularity.  At  an  entertainment  on  board  the  ship 
when  ex-President  Roosevelt  was  returning  from 
Africa,  Homer  Davenport  told  of  a  cartoon  he  had 
drawn  in  defense  of  Admiral  Dewey  while  the  bitter 
criticism  was  at  its  height.  Dewey,  seeing  the  car 
toon,  sent  word  that  he  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Davenport, 
and  greeting  him,  immediately  threw  himself  on  the 
"sofa  in  a  paroxysm  of  weeping."  Mrs.  Dewey  ex 
cused  him,  explaining  that  the  public  abuse  had  sent 
the  Admiral  near  to  nervous  prostration.  She  said, 
"We  had  decided  to  go  to  Europe,  never  to  set  foot 
on  American  soil  again,  and  had  actually  packed 
our  trunks  when  we  saw  your  cartoon.  We  have 
now  decided  to  stay  in  America." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  heard  Mr.  Davenport  repeat  this 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     180 

story  and  followed  him  on  the  ship  program,  paying 
high  praise  to  the  Admiral.  Lawrence  Abbott,  who 
happened  to  be  with  him,  writes  that  after  the  ad 
dress  : 

I  happened  to  be  next  to  him,  and  immediately  on  taking 
his  seat  he  turned  to  me  and  recalling  the  numerous  times 
in  the  month  or  two  preceding  in  which  he  had  remarked 
that  he  was  "going  down  like  Dewey" — said,  sotto  voce, 
"Lawrence,  they  may  treat  me  like  Dewey,  but  I'll  tell  you 
one  thing,  I  shall  neither  weep  nor  shall  I  go  to  Europe." 

He  felt  deeply  that  every  American  citizen  should 
enter  politics.  He  had  contempt  for  the  man  who 
shirked  in  public  affairs.  So  he  said : 

Again,  when  a  man  is  heard  objecting  to  taking  part  in 
politics  because  it  is  "low"  he  may  be  set  down  as  either 
a  fool  or  a  coward;  it  would  be  quite  as  sensible  for  a 
militiaman  to  advance  the  same  statement  as  an  excuse  for 
refusing  to  assist  in  quelling  a  riot  (American  Ideals, 
p.  111). 

He  believed  that  what  was  due  "Caesar"  should  be 
rendered  him  as  God's  due  should  be  rendered  him. 
Lawrence  Abbott,  whose  intimacy  with  Mr.  Roose 
velt  on  his  journey  through  Europe  gives  him  a  right 
to  speak,  asserts  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  want  to 
enter  politics  again  but  hoped  to  "retire  to  Saga 
more  Hill  and  devote  himself  to  his  literary  pur 
suits."  But  obedience  to  his  sense  of  political  duty 
drew  him  in  again.  It  was  Governor  Charles  E. 
Hughes  who  finally  persuaded  him  to  take  the  first 
step  and  help  pass  the  Direct  Primary  bill  which 
ultimately  led  him  to  be  the  candidate  for  State 


190  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Convention  chairman  against  Vice-President  Sher 
man. 

He  wrote  Senator  Lodge  that  he  would  gladly  have 
gone  into  such  a  contest  twenty  years  before,  but 
that  an  ex-President  ought  never  to  have  been  com 
pelled  to  go  into  such  a  contest.  He  affirmed  that 
while  such  "political  business"  was  utterly  repug 
nant  to  him,  nevertheless  he  could  not  stay  out  of 
it  when  he  saw  that  the  interests  of  the  decent  peo 
ple  were  at  stake. 

In  referring  to  America's  task  in  the  Philippines, 
in  the  speech  nominating  William  McKinley  for 
President,  he  said: 

Is  America  a  weakling  to  shrink  from  the  world-work  to 
be  done  by  the  world  powers?  .  .  .  No!  we  challenge  the 
proud  privilege  of  doing  the  work  that  Providence  allots 
us,  and  we  face  the  coming  years  high  of  heart  and  resolute 
of  faith  that  to  our  people  is  given  the  right  to  win 
such  honor  and  renown  as  has  never  yet  been  granted  to  the 
peoples  of  mankind. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  had  much  to  do  with  our  presence 
in  the  Philippines  since  he,  as  assistant  secretary  of 
the  navy,  brought  the  fleet  to  efficiency,  picked 
Dewey,  and  gave  him  orders  to  go  to  Manila  and  take 
the  islands.  All  now  admit  that  our  entrance  was 
providential,  since  it  put  us  into  world  affairs  and 
made  it  natural  for  us  to  join  in  the  World  War  and 
help  save  civilization,  as  well  as  secure  an  influence 
which,  if  wisely  used,  may  help  bring  permanent 
peace  everywhere. 

Furthermore,  our  ability  to  rule  so  successfully  in 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     191 

the  Philippines  by  Christian  methods  disproved  the 
claim  of  Japan  that  only  Prussian  "might"  could 
civilize  such  people  as  the  Koreans,  blood  brothers 
to  the  Filipinos.  This  example  of  successful  admin 
istration  may  have  helped  Japan  to  change  her 
tactics. 

All  of  these  things  also  help  establish  the  neces 
sity  of  "foreign  mission"  work.  If  we  must  fight 
for  the  brotherhood,  then  we  must  also  send  the 
truth  which  will  bring  men  to  act  like  brothers. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  had  warmest  sympathy  with  the 
"foreign"  work  of  the  church. 

George  H.  Payne,  Editor  of  the  Forum,  tells  of  a 
trip  to  Boston  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  the  day  after 
his  decision  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  nomination  in 
1912,  when  "he  was  a  very  sad  man"  because  duty 
compelled  his  candidacy.  On  receiving  enthusiastic 
assurances  of  success  he  replied,  'It  may  be  possible, 
but  we  must  be  prepared  to  lose — it  is  our  duty  to 
make  the  fight.' " 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  so  clean  and  straight  that  he 
put  full  confidence  in  entire  frankness.  Mr.  Bishop 
told  the  writer  of  an  enemy's  attempt  to  misuse  his 
own  remark  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  a  "boy's  mind" 
to  break  their  friendship.  What  Mr.  Bishop  said 
was,  "What  he  thinks,  he  says  at  once,  thinks  aloud, 
like  a  boy."  The  trouble-maker,  a  fellow  police  com 
missioner,  reported  him  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  saying, 
"You  have  a  boy's  mind  and  it  may  never  be  devel 
oped."  Mr.  Bishop  was  right,  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  put 
a  simple  trust  in  open  honesty. 

In  referring  to  a  group  of  Wall  Street  men  who 


192  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

were  determined  that  he  should  not  be  nominated  in 
1904  he  said  that  after  he  had  uncovered  their  secret 
efforts  to  displace  him  they  were  helpless,  for  while 
they  seemed  to  have  power  when  working  "under 
cover"  they  became  "quite  helpless  when  fighting  in 
the  open  by  themselves." 

The  sense  of  being  right  sustained  him.  Yet  he 
was  greatly  cheered  by  letters  such  as  came  from 
Secretary  Hay,  who  was  in  Germany  seeking  health 
after  his  nomination. 

Mr.  Hay  congratulated  him  on  his  nomination 
speech  in  Chicago  in  1904,  where  he  had  combined 
"conscience  and  authority."  Secretary  Hay  re 
joiced  that  he  had  the  courage  to  speak  plainly  to 
"Our  master — the  people."  He  noted  the  fact  that 
it  was  easy  to  condemn  corporations  or  peculiar 
groups,  but  that  it  took  unusual  courage,  rarely 
found  among  public  men,  to  call  the  people  as  a 
whole  to  account.  It  greatly  cheered  Mr.  Roose 
velt  to  have  it  recognized  that  back  of  all  his  public 
work  was  a  sincere  devotion  to  righteousness,  guided 
by  a  godly  conscience. 

He  insisted  that  honesty  and  character,  and  not 
political  partiality,  should  decide  fitness,  and  so  he 
lays  down  the  rule  on  becoming  President  that  "no 
political,  or  business  or  social  influence  of  any  kind" 
would  affect  him  when  he  was  measuring  the  honesty 
or  efficiency  of  a  public  official.  Worth  alone 
weighed  with  him;  he  trained  himself  to  recognize 
it. 

He  did  not  mince  matters  in  dealing  with  un 
worthy  individuals.  When  a  senator  brought  a 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     193 

widely  known  "boss"  to  meet  President  Roosevelt,  he 
received  such  a  cold  reception  that  he  angrily 
blurted  out,  "You  treat  me  as  though  I  were  a  thief." 
The  President  replied,  "Well,  since  you  remind  me 
of  it,  I  know  that  you  are  one." 

He  always  wanted  the  untarnished  truth.  When 
becoming  Governor  he  determined  to  get  an  impartial 
report  concerning  the  State  canal  graft.  He  ap 
pointed  two  well-known  Democratic  lawyers  to  in 
vestigate  and  instructed  them  to  spare  no  one.  After 
months  at  the  task  they  reported  that  actual  criminal 
acts  could  not  be  located  and  that  therefore  prosecu 
tion  was  impossible,  but  that  the  whole  management 
should  be  changed.  The  people  knew  this  report 
was  unbiased  and  were  satisfied,  though,  otherwise, 
they  would  have  required  the  designation  of  a 
specific  culprit. 

While  he  asserted  positively  that,  without  flinch 
ing,  he  would  enforce  the  laws  "against  men  of  vast 
wealth  just  exactly  as  I  enforce  them  against  or 
dinary  criminals,"  he  wanted  the  multimillionaire 
still  to  understand  that  this  purpose  was  ultimately 
for  his  benefit.  So  he  declared  in  a  "Progressive" 
statement : 

I  want  my  multimillionaire  opponents  to  know  that  the 
things  I  propose  are  not  intended  to  hurt  them  but  to  help 
them.  What  I  am  striving  for  is  to  help  their  children 
and  their  grandchildren;  that  in  the  future  years  they  may 
find  it  possible  to  live  in  this  country  with  safety. 

He  refused  to  see  the  sister  of  a  convicted  officer 
of  the  army  who  wanted  to  plead  for  a  pardon,  say 
ing  that  sympathy  for  the  officer's  "folks"  must  not 


194  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

interfere  with  the  administration  of  a  fair  justice. 
He  insisted  that,  after  a  careful  survey  of  the  evi 
dence,  he  was  sure  the  officer  in  question  was  "en 
tirely  incompetent  to  remain  any  longer  in  the  serv- 


It  would  not  be  fair  to  do  for  one  man  who  had  influential 
friends  anything  I  would  not  do  for  the  man  who  has  not 
a  friend  in  the  world.  I  try  to  handle  the  army  and  navy 
on  the  basis  of  doing  absolute  justice  and  showing  no 
favoritism  for  any  reason. 

He  refused  to  single  out  the  case  of  his  son  from 
those  of  the  other  boys  who  had  fallen  in  France  and 
to  permit  the  empty  notoriety  coming  from  bringing 
the  body  home.  He  wrote  General  March: 

Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  I  wish  to  enter  a  most  respectful  but 
most  emphatic  protest  against  the  proposed  course  as  far  as 
our  son  Quentin  is  concerned.  We  have  always  believed 
that 

"Where  the  tree  falls, 
There  let  it  lie." 

We  know  that  many  good  persons  feel  entirely  different, 
but  to  us  it  is  painful  and  harrowing  long  after  death,  to 
move  the  poor  body  from  which  the  soul  has  fled.  We 
greatly  prefer  that  Quentin  shall  continue  to  lie  on  the 
spot  where  he  fell  in  battle  and  where  the  foeman  buried 
him. 

After  the  war  is  over,  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  I  Intend  to 
visit  the  grave  and  then  to  have  a  small  stone  put  up  by 
us,  but  not  disturbing  what  has  already  been  erected  to 
his  memory  by  his  friends  and  American  comrades-in- 
arms. 

He  was  not  a  dreaming  idealist  but  a  practical 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     195 

doer  of  duty  born  of  ideals.  His  motto  as  repeated 
to  me  by  Mr.  Bishop  was,  "I  want  to  do  the  ideal 
thing,  but  if  I  cannot  do  it,  I  will  come  as  near  the 
ideal  as  possible."  He  greatly  grieved  some  reform 
ers  because  he  refused  to  introduce  a  liquor  local- 
option  bill  into  the  Legislature  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  He  insisted  that  if  he  pushed  it  at  that 
early  date  he  would  not  only  waste  his  time  but 
would  cheapen  himself  and  lose  his  influence  and 
ability  to  carry  through  other  reforms  promisingly 
pending  at  that  time. 

He  never  acted  without  foresight.  Kermit  in 
writing  about  the  African  trip  and  his  preparations 
for  it  records  in  the  Metropolitan  Magazine: 

It  was  often  said  of  father  that  he  was  hasty  and  In 
clined  to  go  off  at  half-cock.  There  was  never  anyone  who 
was  less  so.  He  would  gather  his  information  and  make 
his  preparations  with  painstaking  care,  and  then  when  the 
moment  came  to  act  he  was  thoroughly  equipped  and  pre 
pared  to  do  so  with  that  lightning  speed  that  his  enemies 
characterized  as  rash  hot-headedness. 

He  carefully  viewed  all  the  possibilities  when  act 
ing  and  knew  that  the  Panama  project  might  lose 
him  the  Presidency.  When,  therefore,  this  possibil 
ity  was  predicted,  while  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 
nomination  in  1903,  he  replied  in  a  letter  to  a 
Georgia  man  that  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal 
ranked  with  the  Louisiana  Purchase  in  importance. 
He  therefore  admitted  in  this  letter  that  if  it  were 
necessary  for  him  to  retire  from  public  life  as  a  re 
sult  of  his  insistence  upon  building  the  Canal,  he 
would  be  glad  to  do  so  if  the  project  was  finally 


196  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

successful.  He  explained  that  he  said  this  because 
he  believed  that  a  public  man  ought  not  to  be  con 
cerned  about  the  length  of  his  term,  but  about  the 
accomplishment  during  the  time  he  was  in  office. 
The  whole  letter  enforced  the  fact  that  he  was 
anxious  to  render  public  service  and  not  to  obtain 
or  retain  place  by  merely  pleasing  the  people. 

He  always  carried  the  spirit  of  military  obedience 
into  his  public  work,  serving  the  people  as  soldiers 
did  the  flag.  That  is  why  he  was  so  ready  to  enter 
the  actual  fighting  ranks.  He  compared  his  injury 
at  Milwaukee  to  that  of  a  sailor  or  soldier  in  actual 
combat.  Hence,  his  instructions  to  the  Rough  Riders 
might  fit  anyone  entering  public  service.  When  they 
were  about  to  be  mustered  in  and  could  still  with 
draw,  he  said : 

Once  you  are  in,  you've  got  to  see  it  through.  You've 
got  to  perform,  without  flinching,  whatever  duty  is  assigned 
to  you,  regardless  of  the  difficulty  or  the  danger  attending 
it.  You  must  know  how  to  ride,  you  must  know  how  to 
shoot,  you  must  know  how  to  live  in  the  open.  Absolute 
obedience  to  every  command  is  your  first  lesson.  No  matter 
what  comes,  you  mustn't  squeal.1 

He  had  the  same  self-effacing  courage  and  confi 
dence  in  acting  for  his  nation.  Venezuela  had  bor 
rowed  nine  and  one  half  million  dollars  in  1896  from 
a  German  bank  to  build  a  railway,  and  in  1901  was 
far  behind  with  interest.  Great  Britain  also  had  a 
claim  for  one  and  one  half  million,  and  Germany, 


Trom  The  Life  and   Meaning  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  by  Eugene  Thwing,  p. 
97. 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     197 

adding  a  claim  for  damages  for  riots  against  her 
subjects  in  1898,  succeeded  in  securing  the  coopera 
tion  of  Great  Britain  in  blockading  the  ports  of 
Venezuela  and  demanding  immediate  payment.  On 
December  8,  1902,  a  German  fleet  destroyed  Puerto 
Cabello.  Secretary  of  State  Hay's  protest  proved  un 
availing.  President  Roosevelt  knew  that  Germany 
kept  Great  Britain  from  arbitrating  the  question. 
He  sent  for  Holleben,  the  German  ambassador,  and 
told  him  that  unless  Germany  consented  to  arbitrate 
within  ten  days,  he  would  send  Admiral  Dewey  and 
his  fleet  to  protect  Venezuelan  territory.  The  am 
bassador  suggested  this  might  mean  war,  but  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said  it  was  too  late  to  discuss  the  matter. 
When  one  week  had  elapsed  and  no  word  came,  the 
President  warned  Holleben  that  Dewey  would  start 
in  two  days.  The  arrogant  Kaiser,  being  notified, 
recalled  the  steel-like  will  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  and, 
seeing  that  he  meant  business,  immediately  proposed 
arbitration.  The  President  magnanimously  allowed 
him  to  take  the  credit  for  initiating  the  proposal, 
but  nevertheless  kept  Germany  from  getting  a  foot 
hold  on  this  continent. 

He  had  a  very  severe  strain  on  his  independent 
Americanism  when  he  was  compelled  to  refuse  to  visit 
the  Pope.  Vice-President  Fairbanks  had  previously 
requested  an  audience  with  the  Pope,  who  granted  it 
on  condition  that  he  should  not  visit  his  own,  the 
Methodist,  church  in  Rome.  Mr.  Fairbanks  indig 
nantly  refused.  Ambassador  Fleishman  was  re 
quested  to  arrange  an  interview  for  Mr.  Roosevelt 
with  the  Pope  and  was  asked  to  notify  Mr.  Roose- 


198  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

velt  that  he  would  be  welcomed  on  the  same  terms 
proposed  to  Vice-President  Fairbanks.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  immediately  answered  that  the  "Holy  Father" 
had  the  right  to  make  any  conditions  he  thought 
best,  but  reminded  him  that,  "I  must  decline  to  make 
any  stipulations  or  submit  to  any  conditions  which 
in  any  way  limit  my  freedom  of  conduct." 

J.  C.  O'Laughlin,  a  newspaper  man,  having  met 
Mr.  Roosevelt  in  Egypt,  became  one  of  his  secretaries 
on  the  tour ;  and  since  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  he 
volunteered  to  precede  the  party  and  undertake  to 
arrange  the  interview.  Merry  Del  Val,  the  papal 
secretary,  is  reported  as  follows  by  Mr.  O'Laughlin 
in  his  book  Through  Europe  with  Roosevelt : 

Continuing,  I  said  to  Mr.  O'Laughlin,  "All  I  ask  is  this: 
Can  you  assure  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  de  facto  not  go 
to  the  Methodists,  thus  leaving  aside  the  question  of  what 
he  may  consider  to  be  his  rights  in  the  matter?" 

Mr.  Roosevelt  interpreted  this  to  be  discreditable 
double-dealing  and  deception.  In  speaking  about  it 
he  said  that  Merry  Del  Val  told  Mr.  O'Laughlin  that 
he  could  have  the  "audience"  with  the  Pope  if  he 
would  secretly  agree  not  to  visit  the  Methodists 
while  it  would  be  publicly  announced  that  there  had 
been  no  such  agreement.  He  imagined  that  this 
would  save  the  ex-President's  "face."  Mr.  Roose 
velt  then  concludes  that  even  a  "Tammany  boodle 
alderman"  would  not  have  dared  to  make  such  a 
proposal.  He  did  not  blame  the  Catholic  Church  as 
a  whole,  for  evidently  the  church  was  not  to  blame. 
It  is  as  foolish  to  blame  the  Protestant  Church  for 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     199 

what  a  few  leaders  do  as  it  is  to  blaine  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  same  way. 

Few  Presidents  have  had  more  intimate  friends 
among  priests  and  laymen  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  they  had  aided  him  greatly.  It  took  real  courage 
to  risk  their  enmity.  But  his  impartial  spirit  would 
not  permit  him  to  make  such  an  unfair  bargain. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  said  to  me : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  hated  fewer  people  than  anyone  I  ever 
knew.  He  was  not  able  to  cherish  personal  animosities. 
He  attacked  individuals  only  as  representatives  of  a  dan 
gerous  idea  or  organization. 

He  always  counted  himself  the  spokesman  or  repre 
sentative  of  a  "cause"  and  dedicated  himself  so  com 
pletely  to  it  that  even  his  warmest  personal  feelings 
were  not,  as  a  rule,  allowed  to  influence  or  retard 
him. 

Gladstone  had  almost  as  stormy  a  career  as  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  Once  when  asked  the  source  of  his  regu 
lar  poise  he  took  the  interrogator  into  his  bedroom 
and  pointed  to  a  Scripture  verse  which  faced  him 
every  morning.  It  was:  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee  because 
he  trusteth  in  thee."  Something  similar  doubtless  pre 
served  Mr.  Roosevelt,  for  his  faith  was  as  solid  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  as  intimate.  In  a 
heartening  letter  to  Kermit  on  December  3,  1904, 
we  catch  a  vision  of  his  sustaining  "faith."  He  urges 
him  not  to  despair  because  at  various  times  in  school 
and  in  business  "fortune  will  go  against  anyone." 
He  urges  him  to  keep  up  his  courage  and  keep 


200  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

pegging  away  and  things  will  "always  take  a  turn 
for  the  better  in  the  end."  He  writes  in  the  same 
vein  to  "Ted,"  who  has  struck  a  ''blue"  time  at  school. 
He  remarks  that  as  one  grows  older,  "the  bitter  and 
sweet"  follow  each  other  pretty  closely.  We  must, 
he  urges,  "grin  and  bear  it"  and  "flinch"  seldom  but 
keep  earnestly  at  our  work  until  luck  changes. 

Dean  Lewis  illustrates  Mr.  Roosevelt's  im 
perturbable  poise  by  describing  a  visit  to  him  during 
the  Chicago  Convention,  when  it  took  him  twenty 
minutes  to  struggle  through  the  jams  in  the  hotel, 
which  were  shouting,  "We  want  Teddy,"  to  get  to 
his  room.  The  roar  of  the  crowds  inside  and  out 
of  the  hotel,  together  with  the  playing  of  half  a  dozen 
bands,  did  not  move  him.  He  found  Mr.  Roosevelt 
alone,  sitting  in  a  rocking  chair,  reading.  "As  I  came 
in  he  looked  up  quietly,  and  I  saw  that  the  book 
which  he  held  in  his  hand  was  Herodotus,  the  Greek 
historian."  Rabbi  Menzes,  in  speaking  of  the  un 
ruffled  manner  in  which  Roosevelt  received  criticism, 
likened  him  to  Lincoln,  who  once  said: 

If  I  were  to  try  to  read,  much  less  to  answer,  all  the  at 
tacks  made  on  me,  this  shop  might  as  well  be  closed  for 
any  other  business.  I  do  the  very  best  I  can,  and  I  intend 
to  keep  on  doing  so  to  the  end.  If  the  end  brings  me  out 
all  right,  what  is  said  against  me  won't  amount  to  anything. 
If  the  end  brings  me  out  wrong,  ten  angels  swearing  I  was 
right  would  make  no  difference! 

He  did  not  fear  death  in  the  path  of  duty  but  was 
ready  to  meet  it  as  an  incident  in  the  regular  course 
of  life  or  as  a  price  to  be  paid  in  battling  for  the 
right.  The  loss  of  Quentin  without  doubt  hastened 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED     201 

his  own  demise;  but  when  it  was  reported,  his  un 
selfish  message  was : 

Only  those  are  fit  to  live  who  do  not  fear  to  die,  and  none 
are  fit  to  die  who  have  shrunk  from  the  joy  of  life  and 
the  duty  of  life.  Both  life  and  death  are  part  of  the 
"Great  Adventure." 

He  had  earlier  made  the  same  heroic  declaration 
when  it  seemed  certain  that  duty  to  the  public  would 
ultimately  compel  him  to  enter  the  Presidential  con 
test  in  1912,  when  he  was  trying  to  avoid  it.  He  said : 

The  right  motto  for  any  man  is  "Spend  and  be  spent," 
and  if,  in  order  to  do  a  job  worth  doing  from  the  public 
standpoint,  he  must  pay  with  Ills  own  life,  actual  life  on 
the  field  of  battle,  or  political  life  in  civic  affairs,  he  must 
not  grudge  the  payment.  .  .  .  My  attitude  is  not  a  pose;  I 
am  acting  as  I  do  because,  according  to  my  lights,  I  am 
endeavoring,  in  a  not  too-easy  position,  to  do  what  I  believe 
the  interests  of  the  people  demand. 

He  would  refuse  nothing  which  divine  guidance 
("lights")  imposed.  He  was  a  man  of  prayer  and 
doubtless  found  the  light  that  did  not  fail.  He  was 
led  through  the  burdens  and  dangers  of  the  cam 
paign  of  1912  into  his  most  unpopular  period.  But 
he  walked  on  unafraid  and  was  "led"  finally  to  his 
most  influential  period,  that  of  the  war  days.  He  was 
as  calm  through  the  days  of  jeering  as  through 
those  of  cheering. 

Mrs.  Robinson  said  to  me: 

My  brother  had  no  fear  of  death  in  the  path  of  duty. 
He  never  thought  of  it  as  a  dark  door.  He  believed  in 
divine  guidance.  He  did  not  define  it  or  talk  about  it  ex- 


202  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

cept  as  he  would  call  it,  "according  to  my  light."    But,  fol 
lowing  this,  he  never  feared  the  ultimate  outcome. 

Julian  Street,  who  knew  him  for  years  and  was 
frequently  with  him  during  the  last  days,  writing  in 
Collier's,  said  that  he  never  even  heard  him  mention 
death  until  the  last  year  before  his  demise.  He  then 
concludes  that  his  reference  to  it  must  have  come 
from  "a  premonition  that  the  end  was  perhaps  nearer 
than  those  about  him  supposed."  Continuing,  he 
describes  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  he  lay  in  the  hospital  a 
few  days  after  his  operation,  reading  a  book  when  he 
remarked,  "Lying  here,  I  have  often  thought  how 
glad  I  would  be  to  go  now  if  by  doing  so  I  could 
only  bring  the  boys  back  safe  to  Mrs.  Roosevelt." 

He  indeed  avoided  no  task  but  lived  every  day  as 
though  it  were  his  last.  Though  his  health  was 
broken,  he  would  not  admit  it,  but  drove  his  flagging 
strength  to  the  limit  in  efforts  to  speed  up  the  war. 
He  gave  the  keynote  speech  in  Maine,  writing  it 
while  on  a  bed  of  pain,  addressed  the  Republican 
State  Convention  on  the  very  day  that  Quentin  was 
killed,  and  when  his  sorrow  almost  crushed  him 
earnestly  urged  the  reelection  of  Mayor  Mitchel,  and 
supported,  in  a  great  speech  at  Carnegie  Hall,  the 
reelection  of  Governor  Whitman.  His  last  appear 
ance  was  to  deliver  an  address  in  honor  of  a  Negro 
Red  Cross  unit.  On  the  great  day  of  rejoicing — 
Armistice  Day — he  was  compelled  to  return  to  the 
hospital  with  the  acute  pain  of  inflammatory  rheu 
matism.  But  he  mended  sufficiently  to  spend  his  day 
of  delight,  Christmas,  with  children  and  graudchil- 


DUTIES  FEARLESSLY  PERFORMED    203 

dren  at  Oyster  Bay.  He  spent  his  last  evening  with 
his  family  and  at  eleven  retired,  asking  his  personal 
attendant,  James  Amos,  to  "put  out  the  light."  At 
four  o'clock  Amos  noticed  unnatural  breathing,  but 
when  he  reached  his  side  he  was  gone.  His  favorite 
text  was,  "And  walk  humbly  with  God."  This  faith 
ful  disciple  and  good  soldier  did  so,  and  "was  not,  for 
God  took  him,"  even  as  he  did  Enoch  of  old.  Such 
an  end  well  fitted  such  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Hon.  James  M.  Beck  well  said  at  a  memorial 
service,  "We  cannot  believe  that  a  beneficent  God, 
who  in  physical  nature  permits  nothing  to  be  wasted, 
should  permit  the  destruction  of  such  a  soul."  Only 
pigmies  can  stand  in  the  presence  of  this  pure  and 
serviceable  soul  and  declare  that  death  destroyed 
him.  He  who  died  on  Calvary  and  rose  on  Easter 
morn  so  real  that  sincere  souls  recognized  him  was 
indeed  the  "first  fruits." 

This  chapter  may  well  close  with  the  words  of  the 
comrade-son,  Kermit,  who  wrote  for  the  Metro 
politan  : 

When  in  a  little  town  in  Germany  my  brother  and  I  got 
the  news  of  my  father's  death,  there  kept  running  through 
my  head  with  monotonous  insistency  Kipling's  lines: 

"He  scarce  had  need  to  doff  his  pride 

Or  slough  the  dross  of  earth, 
E'en  as  he  trod  that  day  to  God 

So  walked  he  from  his  birth 
In  simpleness  and  gentleness  and 

Honor  and  clean  mirth." 

That  was  my  father,  to  whose  comradeship  and  guidance 
So  many  of  us  look  forward  in  the  Happy  Hunting 
Grounds  (Metropolitan  Magazine,  October,  1920), 


CHAPTER  X 
PREACHED  AND  PRACTICED  HIGH  IDEALS 

"As  you  know,  my  whole  concern  at  this  time  is  practi 
cally  the  same  concern  that  Amos  and  Micah  and  Isaiah 
had  for  Jerusalem  nearly  three  thousand  years  ago." — 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Cry  aloud,  spare  not,  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet, 
and  show  my  people  their  transgression,  and  the  house  of 
Jacob  their  sins. — Isaiah  58.  1. 

"  T  AM  charged  with  being  a  preacher.  Well,  I 
I  suppose  I  am.  I  have  such  a  bully  pulpit," 

-*-  said  Mr.  Roosevelt,  referring,  of  course,  to  his 
great  political  audiences.  He  was  afraid,  however, 
in  claiming  to  be  a  preacher,  of  being  counted  pre 
sumptuous  or  of  seeming  to  lay  claim  to  a  peculiar 
abundance  of  an  artificial  piety  which  some  people 
believe  should  characterize  the  preacher. 

Mr.  Loeb  said  to  me:  "Mr.  Roosevelt  was  essen 
tially  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  He  was  a  little 
sensitive,  however,  about  having  that  title  applied 
to  him  lest  people  would  think  of  him  more  as  a 
talker  than  a  doer." 

After  declaring  to  Dr.  Iglehart  that  the  Christian 
ministry  was  the  "highest  calling  in  the  world,"  he 
said: 

I  consider  it  my  greatest  joy  and  glory  that,  occupying 
a  most  exalted  position  in  the  nation,  I  am  enabled  simply 

204 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  205 

and  sincerely  to  preach  the  practical  moralities  of  the  Bible 
to  my  fellow  countrymen  (Iglehart,  p.  297). 

Gifford  Pinchot  said  to  me: 

Roosevelt  was  the  greatest  preacher  of  righteousness  in 
modern  times.  Deeply  religious  beneath  the  surface,  he 
made  right  living  seem  the  natural  thing,  and  there  was 
no  man  beyond  the  reach  of  his  preaching  and  example. 
In  the  sight  of  all  men  he  lived  the  things  he  taught,  and 
millions  followed  him  because  he  was  the  clear  exemplar 
of  his  teaching.  He  wanted  results  more  than  anything 
else  and  so  acquired  a  remarkable  directness  of  speech. 

Senator  Lodge  traced  his  exhortatory  gifts  back  to 
his  ancestors  when  he  said  of  Mr.  Roosevelt : 

The  blood  of  some  ancestral  Scotch  Covenanter  or  of  some 
Dutch  Reformed  preacher  facing  the  tyranny  of  Philip  of 
Spain  was  in  his  veins,  and  with  his  large  opportunities 
and  his  vast  audiences  he  was  always  ready  to  appeal  for 
justice  and  righteousness. 

Jane  Addams  said  he  was  a  "veritable  preacher 
of  social  righteousness  with  the  irresistible  eloquence 
of  faith  sanctified  by  work." 

The  European  Addresses  delivered  during  his  re 
turn  trip  from  Africa  were  practically  "sermons," 
and  Lawrence  Abbott  says  in  his  Introduction  to 
the  book  which  contains  them,  "I  call  them  sermons 
because  he  himself  uses  the  phrase,  'I  preach,' "  and 
he  further  on  proves  their  right  to  this  designation 
when  he  says : 

And  yet  the  Sorbonne  lecture,  delivered  by  invitation  of 
*he  officials  of  the  University  of  Paris,  .  .  .  saturated  as 


20G  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

it  was  with  moral  ideas  and  moral  exhortations,  was  a  com 
plete  success. 

And  again:  "The  speech  was  an  appeal  for  moral 
rather  than  for  intellectual  or  material  greatness."1 

He  was  so  strenuous  in  his  phrases  and  figures 
concerning  America's  unwillingness  to  enter  the  war 
that  the  newspapers  asked  him  to  modify  them.  He 
refused  and  explained  to  Van  Valkenburg :  "As  you 
know,  my  whole  concern  at  this  time  is  practically 
the  same  concern  that  Amos  and  Micah  and  Isaiah 
had  for  Jerusalem  nearly  three  thousand  years  ago." 

He  was  not  materialistic  but  spiritual  in  esti 
mating  values.  When  ready  to  leave  the  Presidency, 
a  score  of  propositions  came  to  him.  One  corpora 
tion  offered  him  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year  to  act  as  its  president.  But  he  turned  them  all 
down  to  become  associated  with  a  clergyman  (Lyman 
Abbott),  in  whom  he  had  great  confidence,  on  a  re 
ligious  paper,  The  Outlook,  at  one  thousand  dollars 
a  month.  He  did  so  because  its  atmosphere  was  con 
genial.  He  here  frequently  discussed  religious  sub 
jects  and  always  gave  his  contributions  a  high  moral 
tone. 

He  was  very  much  afraid  of  commercializing  his 
personality  and  thus  tincturing  the  purity  of  his 
messages.  Mr.  McGrath  told  me  that  he  refused 
fabulous  sums  for  Chautauquas,  "because  it  looked 
to  him  as  though  he  were  capitalizing  his  career, 
which  he  said  did  not  belong  to  himself  but  to  the 
people." 


Lawrence  Abbott,  African  and  European  Addresses,  p.  23,  Introduction. 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  207 

Mrs.  Henry  A.  Wise- Wood,  with  a  woman's  insight, 
saw  this  element  in  him  when  she  said : 

Roosevelt  is  to  the  mind  what  the  tuning  fork  is  to  the 
ear.  When  one  wishes  to  strike  the  true  note  of  American 
ism,  he  needs  only  to  touch  Roosevelt  as  the  choirmaster 
touches  his  tuning  fork. 

He  had  that  subtle,  spiritual  something  which  is 
as  elusive  and  yet  is  as  real  as  the  fragrance  of  a  vio 
let.  It  was  the  result  of  a  carefully  guarded  and 
nourished  spiritual  life.  It  was  the  basis  for  his 
sturdy  championship  of  right,  as  love  is  for  the 
courage  the  frail  female  exhibits  in  defense  of  her 
young.  Gifford  Pinchot  endeavors  to  explain  it 
when  he  asks:  "What  explains  his  power?  Life  is 
the  answer,"  and  then  after  describing  his  happy 
spirit,  his  clean  life,  his  sturdy  activities,  and  his 
keen  sensitiveness  "to  every  phase  of  human  exist 
ence,"  he  concludes,  "In  Roosevelt,  above  all  men  of 
his  time,  the  promise  of  the  Master  was  fulfilled: 
<I  am  come  that  ye  might  have  life,  and  that  ye  might 
have  it  more  abundantly.'  " 

As  a  boy,  he  was  taught  to  listen  to  a  sermon  so 
that  afterward  he  could  reproduce  its  outline  and 
discuss  the  legitimacy  of  its  Scripture  basis.  And  so 
he  learned  to  test  a  preacher's  effectiveness.  Mrs. 
Robinson  described  to  me  the  family  Sunday  school 
in  her  childhood  home : 

Every  Sunday  afternoon  at  five  o'clock  we  had  a  Sunday 
school  in  our  own  home.  Father  presided  as  teacher  and 
the  children  of  our  household  formed  the  class.  Each  child 
had  a  personally  owned  Bible.  All  had  attended  church 


208  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

that  morning  and  the  first  matter  for  discussion  was  the 
sermon  we  had  heard.  It  was  the  duty  of  every  one  of  us 
to  bring  in  an  abstract  of  that  sermon,  and  the  boy  or  girl 
who  had  the  best  one  was  highly  praised  by  our  father; 
that  was  a  great  prize.  We  would  then  look  up  the  Scrip 
ture  and  the  context  would  be  explained,  and  we  would 
discuss  it  freely,  reading  selections  from  our  own  Bibles. 
It  was  a  cheery,  happy  hour,  enriched  by  our  father,  who 
thus  made  sermon-hearing  very  attractive  and  profitable. 

"Right"  standards  were  imbedded  in  his  very  na 
ture.  William  Bayard  Hale  followed  Mr.  Roosevelt 
through  every  detail  of  his  life  in  the  White  House 
for  a  whole  week  and  then  tried  to  describe  the  tre 
mendous  amount  of  tasks  performed,  and  concludes : 
"  'I  couldn't  do  it  otherwise,'  the  President  said  to 
me  when  I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  the  candor 
and  publicity  that  prevailed.  ...  'I  rest  everything 
on  the  righteousness  of  my  cause/  " 

He  gave  himself  utterly  to  everything  he  advo 
cated.  Just  before  the  editor  of  the  Paris  Matin  re 
turned  from  a  visit  to  this  country,  he  asked  Mr. 
Roosevelt  if  he  had  any  message  and  he  replied : 

I  have  no  message  for  the  French  people.  I  have  given 
them  the  best  I  had  [his  four  sons].  But  if  they  speak  of 
me  over  there,  tell  them  my  only  regret  is  that  I  could  not 
give  them  myself. 

He  was  always  literally  ready  to  give  his  life  for 
a  cause  as  did  the  early  martyrs.  Albert  Shaw,  in 
referring  to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first  "stumping"  tour  in 
the  interests  of  President  McKinley,  traces  his  ef 
fectiveness  to  conscientiousness : 

He  was  not  naturally  a  good  public  speaker,  but  in  the 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  209 

course  of  this  tour,  through  sheer  earnestness,  sincerity, 
and  energy,  he  won  his  audiences  and  acquired  his  reputa 
tion — always  afterward  sustained — of  being  a  very  effective 
campaign  speaker. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  constantly  inspired  and  sus 
tained  by  his  high  ideals,  which  he  believed  would 
ultimately  prevail  and  for  which  he  fought. 

To  a  Christian  mission  school  in  Luxor,  Egypt, 
he  said,  "A  practical  man  without  ideals  is  a  curse. 
The  greater  his  ability,  the  greater  the  curse."  In 
closing  a  chapter  in  his  Autobiography,  which  de 
scribes  his  romps  with  the  children  and  the  alto 
gether  happy  home  life  he  enjoyed,  he  enforced  the 
fact  that  no  success  approached  that  which  is  open 
to  men  and  women  "who  have  the  right  ideals." 
This  group,  he  says,  will  see  that  the  ordinary  every 
day  ''homely  things"  "count  most." 

He  had  never  met  Mr.  Riis  until  that  newspaper 
reporter  had  printed  his  ideals  of  helpfulness  in  a 
book  titled,  How  the  Other  Half  Lives.  That  book 
drew  these  two  men  together  as  a  magnet  does  a 
needle,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  called  on  Mr.  Riis  and 
offered  to  help.  Explaining  the  call,  he  said,  "I  be 
lieve  in  realizable  ideals  and  in  realizing  them,  in 
preaching  what  can  be  practiced  and  then  in  prac 
ticing  them."  Those  were  the  sort  Mr.  Riis  had  of 
fered. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  intense  conviction  is  shown  in  a 
sentence  in  The  Great  Adventure :  "Unless  men  are 
willing  to  fight  and  die  for  great  ideals,  .  .  .  ideals 
will  vanish  and  the  world  will  become  one  huge  sty 
of  materialism." 


210  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  developed  this  idea  in  his  epochal  address  at 
Carnegie  Hall  just  after  he  had  agreed  to  enter  the 
primaries  against  President  Taft : 

In  order  to  succeed,  we  need  leaders  of  inspired  idealism, 
leaders  to  whom  are  granted  great  visions,  who  dream 
greatly  and  strive  to  make  their  dreams  come  true;  who 
can  kindle  the  people  with  the  fire  from  their  own  burning 
souls.  The  leader  for  the  time  being,  whoever  he  may  be, 
is  but  an  instrument  to  be  used  until  broken  and  then  to  be 
cast  aside;  and  if  he  is  worth  his  salt,  he  will  care  no  more 
when  he  is  broken  than  a  soldier  cares  when  he  is  sent 
where  his  life  is  forfeit  in  order  that  the  victory  may  be 
won.  In  the  long  fight  for  righteousness  the  watchword 
for  all  of  us  is,  "Spend  and  be  spent."  It  is  of  little  matter 
whether  any  one  man  fails  or  succeeds;  but  the  cause  shall 
not  fail,  for  it  is  the  cause  of  mankind. 


Here  is  the  spirit  of  a  Paul  who  was  willing  to  be 
"offered  up." 
The  Hon.  James  M.  Beck  said : 

When  he  entered  public  life  he  found  this  nation  sunk 
in  a  sordid  materialism,  due  to  our  amazing  prosperity  as 
a  nation,  which  had  somewhat  obscured  the  great  ideals 
to  which  the  republic  was  dedicated.  Roosevelt,  in  the 
spirit  of  an  ancient  prophet,  preached  the  higher  life,  both 
for  nation  and  for  individual. 

In  The  Great  Adventure  he  pleads  that  those  who 
cannot  go  into  the  trenches  shall 

realize  the  need  for  a  loftier  idealism  than  we  have  had 
in  the  past.  .  .  .  There  has  been  in  the  past  in  this  country 
far  too  much  of  that  gross  materialism  which,  in  the  end, 
eats  like  an  acid  into  all  the  finer  qualities  of  our  souls. 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  211 

The  news  of  Quentin's  death  came  on  the  morning 
of  the  day  when  he  had  agreed  to  preside  and  make 
tLe  keynote  address  at  the  Republican  State  Con 
vention  at  Saratoga.  In  spite  of  his  heart-breaking 
sorrow,  he  went  to  the  convention,  saying:  "It  is 
my  duty.  I  must  go."  He  followed  the  set  speech 
with  an  extemporaneous  exhortation  in  which, 
among  other  things,  he  said : 

Our  young  men  have  gone  to  the  other  side,  Very  many 
of  them  to  give  up  in  their  joyous  prime  all  the  glory  and 
all  the  beauty  of  life  to  pay  the  greatest  price  of  death  in 
battle  for  a  lofty  ideal.  Now  when  they  are  doing  that, 
cannot  we  men  and  women  at  home  make  up  our  minds  to 
try  to  insist  upon  a  lofty  idealism  here  at  home?  .  .  . 
I  am  asking  for  the  idealism  which  will  demand  that  every 
promise  expressed  or  implied  be  kept — that  every  pro 
fession  of  decency,  of  devotion  that  is  lofty  in  words  should 
be  made  good  in  deeds. 

His  sorrow,  the  product  of  devotion  to  ideals,  spurred 
and  di<f  not  retard  him  in  urging  others  to  follow 
them. 

Mr.  Hagedorn  carried  a  letter  to  "Bill"  Sewall 
from  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  which  he  said:  "I  want  you 
to  tell  him  everything  good,  bad,  and  indifferent. 
Don't  spare  me  the  least  bit."  "Bill"  then  wrote, 
"I  could  not  see  a  single  thing  that  was  not  fine  in 
Theodore."  After  speaking  of  the  firm  advocacy  of 
his  convictions  which  some  people  called  stubborn 
ness,  "Bill"  emphasizes  Mr.  Roosevelt's  teachableness 
but  admits  that  "he  had  strong  convictions  and  was 
willing  to  stand  up  for  them,"  and  could  not  be 
shaken  out  of  them.  He  was  inspired  and  stabilized 


212  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

by  his  convictions.    He  kept  corrupt  leaders  nervous ; 
for  if  he  saw  a  thing  that  looked  wrong,  he  spoke  out 
loud  and  proposed  a  remedy  and  pushed  to  get  it  into 
vogue,  no  matter  who  was  affected. 
He  was  always  consistent  and  declared : 

Any  man  who  preaches  to  others  should  rightly  be  re 
quired  to  show  that  he  has  himself,  according  to  his  power, 
acted  upon  the  doctrines  he  preaches  and  that  he  has  not 
lightly  changed  them  or  lightly  adopted  them. 

Since  he  "preached"  such  doctrines  critics  won 
dered  if  he  really  practiced  them. 

One  day  Mr.  Roosevelt  asked  George  H.  Payne  if 
he  had  seen  the  charge  of  intemperance  which  had 
been  made  against  him.  He  answered  in  the  nega 
tive  and  suggested  that  it  was  not  worthy  of  his 
notice.  Mr.  Roosevelt  then  replied : 

That  might  be  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  day  after 
day  I  am  receiving  letters  like  this  one  that  I  hap  in  my 
hand,  from  mothers  saying  that  they  had  taught  their  boys 
to  look  up  to  me,  and  that  it  was  a  shock  to  them  to  learn 
that  I  had  been  unfaithful  to  my  trust.  I  owe  them  a  refu 
tation. 

Lawrence  Abbott  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  "intemperance"  libel  suit,  under  regular  legal 
procedure,  Mr.  Roosevelt  might  have  compelled  his 
accuser  to  submit  his  evidence  and  when  he  failed 
to  prove  his  charges,  merely  collect  damages.  But 
instead,  he  opened  his  whole  life  for  complete  in 
spection,  so  that  the  public  could  see  whether  there 
was  any  basis  for  the  charges.  That  such  was  his 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  213 

sole  purpose  is  shown  by  his  request  to  the  court 
that  the  convicted  owner  of  the  newspaper  who  had 
made  the  scurrilous  charges  should  be  relieved  from 
a  heavy  penalty  after  he  had  apologized. 

Harvey  D.  Hinnian  was  the  Progressive  can 
didate  for  Governor  of  New  York  in  1904  and  was 
bitterly  opposed  by  the  "machine."  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
in  supporting  him,  charged  that  William  Barnes, 
the  Republican  "boss,"  had  formed  an  alliance  with 
the  Democrats  in  the  interests  of  political  and  busi 
ness  crookedness.  Barnes  then  sued  him  for  libel. 
In  collecting  evidence  Mr.  Barnes  had  the  advantage 
of  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  in  Albany.  His 
information  went  back  to  the  days  of  Platt,  with 
whom  he  had  worked.  He  had  access  to  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  150,000  letters,  which  his  lawyers  scrutinized 
carefully.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  kept  on  the  grill  of 
the  witness  stand  for  ten  days.  His  memory  was 
marvelous.  Once  they  read  a  letter,  written  years 
before,  with  a  bad  implication  to  it,  and  Mr.  Roose 
velt  asked,  "Isn't  there  an  interlineation  there  in 
pen  and  ink  which  reads  as  follows?"  and  he  quoted 
words  which  banished  all  suspicion.  They  examined 
his  relations  with  "Boss"  Platt  and  went  through 
the  campaign  contributions  of  1904  in  trying  to  show 
that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  dealt  in  crooked  politics,  but 
they  failed  to  find  a  flaw  or  a  misstep. 

Judge  Andrews  charged  the  jury  to  decide 
"whether  there  had  been  an  alliance  between  Barnes 
and  the  Democratic  leaders  and  whether  Barnes  had 
worked  through  a  corrupt  alliance  between  crooked 
politics  and  crooked  business."  "For  two  days  the 


214  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

jury  deliberated,"  says  Dean  Lewis,  "and  then  re 
turned  a  verdict  which  accepted  Roosevelt's  state 
ments  as  true." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  in  his  "thanks"  to  the  jury,  after 
they  brought  in  a  verdict,  so  expressed  his  apprecia 
tion  of  the  "obligation"  you  "men  representing  every 
sphere  of  political  belief  have  put  me  under" : 

There  is  only  one  return  that  I  can  make,  and  that,  I 
assure  you,  I  will  try  to  make  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 
I  will  try  all  my  life  to  act  in  public  and  private  affairs  so 
that  no  one  of  you  will  have  cause  to  regret  the  verdict  you 
have  given  this  morning. 

The  trial  consumed  two  months  and  cost  Mr.  Roose 
velt  personally  fifty-two  thousand  dollars  to.  defend 
his  honesty  against  a  "boss"  who  thought  he  could 
"break"  him.  No  moral  leader  can  speak  confidently 
and  effectively  without  the  consciousness  of  recti 
tude  which  sustained  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

Someone  has  said  that  a  man  may  fight  for  his 
home  but  not  for  his  "boarding"  house.  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  desiring  to  perpetuate  the  nation,  recognized 
the  fact  that  abiding  love  of  country  could  alone  be 
insured  by  real  homes  built  by  a  sacrifice  and  by 
owners  desirous  of  having  children  in  them.  Hence, 
in  France,  while  "preaching,"  he  assailed  the  liberty 
allowed  the  lawless  socialists,  and  in  the  same  way 
arraigned  the  childless  homes — both  as  dangerous 
diseases  of  the  republic. 

He  expressed  his  contempt  for  the  dodger  who  re 
fuses  to  be  a  parent  by  saying,  "But  the  man  or 
woman  so  cold  as  to  know  no  passion  and  a  brain 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  215 

so  shallow  and  selfish  as  to  dislike  children  is  in 
effect  a  criminal  against  the  race." 

His  known  tenderness  toward  woman  safeguards 
his  exhortation  concerning  "motherhood."  After  en 
forcing  the  necessity  of  every  worthy  man  being 
gentle  and  unselfish  toward  his  wife,  he  says,  "But 
exactly  as  he  must  do  his  duty,  so  she  must  do  her 
duty."  He  then  explains  that  if  the  American  race 
is  to  go  forward,  every  normal  home  should  endeavor 
to  have  at  least  four  children  in  it,  since  many  would 
not  marry,  others  would  be  unwillingly  deprived  of 
offspring,  and  many  children  would  die  in  infancy. 
He  concludes :  "I  am  sure  you  agree  with  me  that 
no  other  success  in  life — not  being  President  or 
being  wealthy — can  compare  with  the  knowledge  of 
men  and  women  that  they  have  done  their  duty  and 
that  their  children  and  grandchildren  rise  up  to  call 
them  blessed." 

In  speaking  to  the  French  on  "race  suicide"  he 
said: 

Even  more  important  than  ability  to  work,  even  more 
important  than  ability  to  fight  at  need,  is  it  to  remember 
that  the  chief  of  blessings  for  any  nation  is  that  it  shall 
leave  its  seed  to  inherit  the  land.  It  was  the  crown  of 
blessings  in  biblical  times  and  it  is  the  crown  of  blessings 
now. 

It  is  difficult  to  condemn  conditions  in  a  country 
while  an  honored  guest.  But  a  genuine  prophet  dare 
not  even  then  refrain,  and  so  Mr.  Roosevelt  assailed 
the  unrestrained  Socialism  prevalent  in  France: 

The  deadening  effect  on  any  race  of  the  adoption  of  a 


216  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

logical  and  extreme  socialistic  system  could  not  be  over 
stated;  it  would  spell  sheer  destruction;  it  would  produce 
grosser  wrong  and  outrage,  fouler  immorality,  than  any 
existing  system.1 

His  fearless  warning  bore  fruit;  for  the  Briand 
ministry  took  heart  and  forbade  a  monster  public 
demonstration  already  announced,  with  incendiary 
posters,  to  take  place  under  the  direction  of  the  Revo 
lutionary  Group.  For  the  first  time  in  fifteen  years 
the  police  and  soldiers  were  authorized  to  use  their 
arms  in  self-defense  against  this  group.  So  his 
preaching  bore  prompt  fruit. 

He  spoke  in  the  same  unrestrained  way  in  Egypt 
when,  under  the  plea  of  a  Nationalist  movement, 
Boutras  Pasha,  the  British  representative,  was  as 
sassinated.  Two  hundred  students  had  surrounded 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  hotel  and  shouted  fierce  threats ;  but, 
like  the  ancient  prophets,  he  was  unmoved.  A  won 
derful  welcome  in  London  did  not  smother  his  preach 
ing  zeal,  and  so  he  dealt  with  the  Egyptian  question 
again  and  arraigned  some  of  the  side-stepping 
"statesmen"  in  Great  Britain.  "While  you  have 
been  treating  all  religions  with  studied  fairness  and 
impartiality,"  he  said,  "the  Moslems  have  used  this 
as  a  basis  for  an  anti-foreign  attack,  so  that  they 
could  destroy  all  religions  but  their  own."  He  con 
cluded  : 

It  was  with  this  primary  object  of  establishing  order  that 
you  went  into  Egypt  twenty-eight  years  ago.  ...  If  you 
feel  you  have  not  the  right  to  be  in  Egypt,  if  you  do  not 
wish  to  establish  and  to  keep  order  there,  why  then,  by  all 


'Lawrence  Abbott,  Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  p.  165. 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  217 

means  get  out  of  Egypt.  ...  If,  as  I  hope,  you  feel  that 
your  duty  to  civilized  mankind  and  your  fealty  to  your  own 
great  traditions  alike  bid  you  stay,  make  the  fact  and  your 
name  agree.  .  .  .  Some  nation  must  govern  Egypt.  I  hope 
and  believe  that  you  will  decide  that  it  is  your  duty  to  be 
that  nation.1 

Though  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  charged  with  being  a 
meddler  in  this  case,  he  never  explained  that  his 
speech  had  been  read  and  approved,  with  a  request 
that  he  deliver  it,  by  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  foreign 
minister. 

He  never  gave  any  consideration  to  the  effect  of 
an  act  or  address  on  his  future  but  implicitly  obeyed 
the  inner  voice.  He  admits  that  after  he  returned 
to  the  Legislature  for  the  third  term  he  found  him 
self  unconsciously  asking,  "How  will  this  or  that  af 
fect  my  career?"  and  was  for  awhile  tempted  to  trim, 
until  one  day,  in  utter  disgust,  he  declared,  "I  will 
do  my  day's  work  as  it  comes  along  and  let  the  ca 
reer  take  care  of  itself." 

He  could  not  "do  evil  that  good  might  come."  Mr. 
Riis  records  him  as  saying : 

No  man  is  justified  in  doing  evil  on  the  ground  of  ex 
pediency.  ...  As  soon  as  a  politician  gets  to  the  point  of 
thinking  that  to  be  "practical"  he  has  got  to  be  base,  he 
has  become  a  noxious  member  of  the  body  politic.  That 
species  of  practicability  eats  into  the  moral  sense  of  the 
people  like  a  cancer. 

When  urged  by  politicians  to  soften  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  Negro  soldiers  guilty  of  the  Brownsville 

»IWd.,  p.  151. 


218  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

murders  in  order  that  the  Negro  voters  might  not 
be  offended,  he  writes  Silas  McBee : 

As  you  know,  I  believe  in  practical  politics,  and,  where 
possible,  I  always  weigh,  well  any  action  which  may  cost 
votes  before  I  consent  to  take  it;  but  in  a  case  like  this, 
where  the  issue  is  not  merely  one  of  naked  right  and  wrong 
but  one  of  vital  concern  to  the  whole  country,  I  will  not  for 
one  moment  consider  the  political  effect. 

Previous  to  his  own  campaign  for  the  Presidency 
in  1904  he  found  crookedness  and  graft  in  the  Post 
Office  Department.  The  politicians  suggested  that 
a  few  guilty  ones  should  be  punished  and  the  depart 
ment  then  be  quietly  cleaned  up.  He  refused  to  con 
sider  such  a  plan  and  put  a  Democrat  in  as  one  of 
the  assistant  investigators  so  that  no  whitewashing 
would  be  done.  Among  the  crooks  caught  was  a 
State  senator  in  New  York  State.  It  happened  that 
the  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee  was 
a  partner  in  the  firm  that  profited  from  this  senator's 
crookedness  and  the  "senator"  warned  Mr.  Roose 
velt  that  if  the  "case"  was  not  dropped,  he  would  lose 
the  State  in  1904.  Mr.  Roosevelt  wrote  him  that  he 
was  more  interested  in  carrying  the  State  than  any 
one  else  but  that  "I  will  not  let  up  on  any  grafter  no 
matter  what  the  political  effect  might  be." 

The  next  year,  a  senator,  afterwards  expelled  for 
dishonesty,  wrote  the  President  in  the  interests  of  a 
crooked  client. 

He  received  the  prompt  information  that  President 
Roosevelt  would  under  no  "pressure"  from  political 
sources  or  because  of  "party  expediency"  refrain 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  219 

from  punishing  any  evildoer,  "whether  he  belongs 
to  my  party  or  any  other." 

He  wrote  a  wonderful  testimony  in  a  private  letter 
to  his  son  Kermit,  containing  this  sentence,  "I 
never  did  one  thing  personally  that  was  not  as 
straight  as  a  string." 

When  his  campaign  for  President  was  put  on  he 
picked  Cortelyou  as  national  chairman  because  "he 
will  manage  the  canvass  on  a  capable  and  also  on 
an  absolutely  clean  basis,  and  my  canvass  cannot  be 
managed  on  any  other  lines  either  with  propriety  or 
advantage." 

One  of  the  most  crucial  tests  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
integrity  came  at  the  1912  Chicago  Convention. 
Only  twenty-eight  votes  were  needed  to  nominate 
him.  One  night  a  group  of  Southern  delegates 
waited  upon  him  and  promised  to  give  him  thirty- 
two  votes  provided  only  that  they  then  could  vote 
with  the  "stand-patters"  on  organization.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  but  said  in  a  clear 
voice : 

Thank  the  delegates  you  represent  but  tell  them  that  I 
cannot  permit  them  to  vote  for  me  unless  they  vote  for  all 
progressive  principles  for  which  I  fought  and  by  which 
I  stand  or  fall. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  told  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
said,  "They  don't  seem  to  understand  that  I  am  not 
running  for  President  but  am  standing  for  a  prin 
ciple."  Another  who  was  present  said  that  "strong 
men  broke  down  under  the  stress  of  that  night." 
Some  pleaded  all  night  with  him,  insisting  that  once 


220  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

he  was  nominated,  he  could  handle  the  situation  and 
rid  himself  of  the  "stand-patters."  But,  iinally, 
after  answering  all  arguments  and  desiring  to  close 
the  matter,  he  had  to  warn  two  or  three  persistent 
pleaders  that  though  he  loved  them  like  brothers, 
yet  if  they  continued  their  urging,  it  might  bring 
about  a  break  in  their  friendship,  since  he  could  not 
yield  against  his  convictions. 

The  Germans  exasperated  Mr.  Roosevelt  almost 
beyond  endurance  during  the  Barnes  trial.  Mr. 
Bowers,  his  chief  counsel,  had  warned  him  against 
making  any  vigorous  anti-German  statements  until 
the  trial  was  over,  since  two  of  the  jurors  were  Ger 
man-Americans.  News  was  suddenly  brought  that 
the  Lusitania  had  been  sunk.  He  tried  hard  to  keep 
quiet  and  walked  up  and  down  the  floor  in  his  host's 
home  in  Syracuse.  Finally  he  declared:  "Well,  it 
doesn't  make  any  difference.  It  is  more  important 
that  I  be  right  than  to  win  this  suit."  Awakened 
at  midnight  with  a  request  for  an  interview,  he  gave 
the  reporters  a  blistering  indictment  of  the  Germans. 
The  next  morning  he  told  his  counsel  that  he  feared 
this  interview  would  so  alienate  the  two  jurors  as 
to  insure  losing  the  case,  but  concluded  that  it  could 
not  be  helped  if  it  did,  since  he  must  be  true  to  his 
convictions  whatever  the  cost,  since  his  personal 
welfare  "was  second  to  the  interests  of  the  American 
people." 

He  never  gave  way  to  pettishness.  He  vigorously 
opposed  the  nomination  of  James  G.  Blaine  while  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Convention,  but  returning 
to  New  York,  he  refused  to  bolt  the  ticket,  saying, 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  221 

"I  did  my  best  and  got  beaten,  and  I  propose  to 
stand  by  the  result." 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  recounted  to  me  a  stirring 
incident  that  uncovered  Mr.  Roosevelt's  methods  to 
hear  the  call  of  duty  and  his  answer  to  it : 

I  was  In  New  York  in  conference  with  Frank  Munsey 
and  George  W.  Perkins  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  telephoned  me 
that  he  wanted  to  see  me  at  nine-thirty  the  next  morning. 
We  had  all  agreed  that  if  Woodrow  Wilson  were  nominated, 
the  Progressives  would  have  small  chance.  When  I  arrived 
at  Oyster  Bay  Mr.  Roosevelt  said: 

"The  whole  family  spent  the  afternoon  yesterday  in  a 
conference  as  to  whether  I  should  accept  the  Progressive 
nomination.  I  told  the  children  that  it  would  mean  social 
ostracism — friends  of  a  lifetime  would  suspicion  and  'cut' 
them;  that  it  would  embitter  powerful  business  men  who 
would  impede  and  block  their  success.  I  told  Mrs.  Roose 
velt  that  dear  old  Judge  White  would  not  call  on  her  again, 
that  Root  and  all  the  old  crowd  would  forsake  us.  And  I 
told  them  that  it  would  all  end  in  my  defeat  and  loss  of 
standing  in  the  party.  But  after  all  this  dismal  picture, 
the  family  voted  unanimously  for  me  to  run." 

Then  he -turned  toward  me  and  said:  "Van,  this  ends 
my  public  career.  I  had  hoped  I  might  serve  the  public 
for  a  long  while.  But  duty  calls  and  I  must  enter  this 
fight  as  a  soldier  goes  into  battle  and  there  risks  his  life. 
I  am  no  better,  and  must  be  willing  to  'die'  for  my  country." 

Suddenly  he  turned  toward  the  door  and  said,  "Let  me 
bring  Edith  in,"  and  soon  he  came  back  hand  in  hand  with 
Mrs.  Roosevelt,  like  lovers  that  they  were,  and  asked  her 
to  tell  me  about  the  decision.  She  recounted  the  incidents 
and  added,  "Though  we  know  the  outcome  is  defeat,  I  am 
serenely  happy;  and  whatever  comes  now,  it  is  all  right." 

It  was  holy  ground  on  which  we  stood.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
accepted  the  call  as  God-sent  and  without  question  went 
forward  in  the  way  as  he  found  it  marked  out,  step  by  step. 


222  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  never  considered  his  own  interests.  Mr. 
Thompson  asked  him  what  he  thought  his  chances 
were  to  be  nominated  in  1916.  He  replied  that  if 
there  had  been  any  "chance,  I  killed  it  by  my  tour  of 
the  West  advocating  preparedness  and  Americanism. 
The  convention  will  adopt  these  issues;  but  when 
nominations  are  made  a  convention  will  always  pass 
over  a  pioneer,  he  has  made  too  many  enemies,  and 
will  pick  a  'safer'  man."  And  he  knew  that  fact 
when  he  started  the  tour. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  read  character  and  so  picked  his 
associates.  He  usually  forgave  his  adversaries,  but 
Mr.  Stoddard  told  me  of  a  nationally  known  writer 
who  had  published  a  widely  circulated  article  making 
serious  charges  against  Mr.  Roosevelt.  Later  he 
wanted  to  apologize  and  renew  friendship,  but  Mr. 
Roosevelt  was  unwilling,  saying :  "He  has  known 
me  eight  or  ten  years  in  an  intimate  way.  If  when 
he  thus  knew  me  he  could  make  such  charges,  he 
proves  himself  to  have  a  character  I  dare  not  trust 
in  the  future." 

He  had  a  very  unusual  test  of  his  integrity  when, 
as  Governor,  his  warm  friend,  Jacob  A.  Riis,  among 
many  others,  urged  him  to  grant  a  woman  murderer 
a  reprieve,  since  it  seemed  revolting  for  a  female  to 
be  executed.  She  had  killed  her  stepdaughter  with 
out  provocation  and  had  tried  to  kill  her  husband. 
Governor  Roosevelt  eventually  refused  the  request 
and  wrote  Mr.  Riis,  "Whatsoever  I  do,  old  friend, 
believe  it  will  be  because  after  painful  groping  I 
see  duty  in  some  given  path." 

He  had  to  fight  constantly  for  his  ideals.     Even 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  223 

when  police  commissioner,  he  had  politically  blind 
associates  who  put  policy  before  principle  and  so 
he  said : 

I  have  endless  petty  rows  with  Fitch  and  Parker,  very 
irritating  because  so  petty,  but  very  necessary;  the  battle 
for  decent  government  must  be  won  by  just  such  inter 
minable  grimy  drudgery. 

When  it  became  necessary  to  form  a  new  party 
Dean  Lewis,  who  was  on  the  ground,  tells  us :  "The 
decision  to  form  an  independent  party  was  made  by 
Roosevelt  and  by  no  one  else."  He  took  responsi 
bility  promptly. 

With  such  a  character,  tireless  energy,  and  ideals 
of  service  of  course  he  moved  the  people  and  ulti 
mately  to  action.  He  dedicated  his  magnetism  to  the 
service  of  humanity.  John  Burroughs  tells  about 
meeting  a  Catholic  priest  in  Bermuda  who  had  been 
on  a  platform  in  New  England  when  Mr.  Roosevelt 
spoke  and  who  said,  "The  man  had  not  spoken  three 
minutes  before  I  loved  him,  and  had  anyone  tried  to 
molest  him,  I  could  have  torn  him  to  pieces."  After 
the  "libel"  suit  "Boss"  Barnes  heard  Mr.  Roosevelt 
speak  at  Carnegie  Hall  and  was  soon  on  his  feet 
shouting  and  applauding.  When  reminded  of  it  he 
replied,  "No  one  can  resist  the  magnetism  of  that 
man." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  beyond  being  moved  him 
self  or  he  could  not  so  easily  have  moved  others. 
When  he  left  Oyster  Bay  in  the  fall  of  1905,  follow 
ing  his  inauguration  as  President,  and  after  spend 
ing  the  summer  there,  he  had  an  unusually  affecting 


224  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

experience.  For  the  first  time  the  village  was  deco 
rated  and  the  school  children  and  neighbors  accom 
panied  him  to  the  train  and  sang,  "Farewell  to  our 
neighbor,  President  Roosevelt/'  and  "God  be  with 
you  till  we  meet  again."  The  New  York  Tribune 
said,  "The  President  had  tears  in  his  eyes  while  he 
thanked  his  neighbors  who  gathered  at  the  railroad 
station"  to  bid  him  farewell.  He  told  them  how 
much  he  "appreciated  their  demonstrations  of  friend 
ship"  and  that  "they  have  been  very  helpful  to  me." 
Mr.  Taft,  in  his  Introduction  to  Dean  Lewis' 
Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  tells  of  a  cartoon  that 
hung  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  room  at  the  White  House, 

in  which  an  old  farmer  with  a  pipe  was  seated  in  front  of 
a  fire  reading  a  long  executive  message  of  the  President, 
and  underneath  was  the  legend,  "His  favorite  author." 
This  cartoon  contained  the  kernel  of  truth  as  to  the  atti 
tude  of  the  plain  people  in  the  country  toward  Theodore 
Roosevelt's  ideals.1 

He  honestly  loved  the  "people." 

Mr.  Loeb,  his  secretary,  told  me  that  the  first  time 
Mr.  Roosevelt  saw  this  cartoon,  he  exclaimed :  "By 
George,  Billy,  that's  the  fellow  I  have  been  trying 
to  reach  all  my  life.  I  hope  the  cartoon  represents 
the  fact !"  Lawrence  Abbott  further  illustrates  his 
hold  on  the  people  when  he  tells  about  looking  out 
the  train  window  during  the  night  and  seeing  farm 
houses  lighted  with  groups  in  front  waving  flags  at 
the  passing  train.  "It  was  as  if  they  had  waited  up 


'From  The  Life   of   Theodore   Roosevelt,  by  William  Draper    Lewis.     Copy 
right,  by  The  John  C.  Winston  Company. 


Underwood  &  Underwood  Studios,  New  V 

THE  EARNEST 


'PREACHER"  IN  ACTION 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  225 

to  bid  a  welcome  and  a  good-by  to  a  brother,  though 
they  knew  he  would  be  unseen  and  unseeing." 

Clemenceau  made  an  earnest  plea  to  President 
Wilson  to  send  Mr.  Roosevelt  over  during  the  war 
since  "he  is  an  idealist,  imbued  with  simple,  vital 
idealism.  Hence  his  influence  on  a  crowd,  his  'pres 
tige,'  to  use  the  right  expression."  He  paid  for  his 
power  and  he  used  it  well. 

The  New  York  Globe  editorially  regretted  the  fact 
that  the  laudations  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  centered  their 
emphasis  on  the  fact  that  his  chief  service  was  as  a 
"preacher" — a  "champion  of  moral  ideals,"  while 
"it  was  as  a  doer  of  the  word  rather  than  as  its 
preacher  that  our  dead  leader  and  friend  wishes  to 
be  regarded  as  worthy."  It  is  so  easy  to  minimize 
the  preacher  as  a  mere  theorist.  It  is  forgotten  that 
the  preacher  has  always  carried  the  torch  and  blazed 
the  trail  at  every  forward  step  mankind  has  taken. 
Moses  had  a  slow  tongue  and  was  given  Aaron  to 
preach.  Recall  the  leadership  of  such  preachers  as 
Elijah,  who  dethroned  Baal  and  saved  Israel;  John 
the  Baptist,  who  prepared  the  way  for  the  great 
Saviour ;  Savonarola,  who  acted  as  surgeon  to  a  cor 
rupt  church;  the  Revolutionary  preachers,  who 
whipped  the  slothful  to  enlist ;  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
the  scorpion-like  assailer  of  slavery;  and  the  army 
of  ridiculed  pastors  who  gave  us  a  "dry"  America. 
Few  men  in  history  have  had  both  the  gift  of  the 
seer  and  that  of  the  practical  organizer  as  did  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  But  he  had  to  picture  the  "Promised 
Land"  and  exhibit  the  weakness  of  the  enemy  before 
he  could  get  the  people  to  go  forward. 


226  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  early  recognized  that  sins  enervated  both  the 
individual  and  the  nation.  In  speaking  of  the 
capable,  well-disciplined  army  of  Cromwell,  he  says, 
"No  man  swears  but  he  pays  his  twelve  pence;  if  he 
be  drunk,  he  is  set  in  the  stocks  or  worse." 

His  own  habits  proved  his  estimate  of  right  living ; 
and  while  he  tried  to  enforce  their  value,  yet  he  never 
coerced  anyone.  Lawrence  Abbott  said  to  me,  "Mr. 
Roosevelt  so  earnestly  desired  to  help  people  find  the 
road  to  spiritual  success  and  happiness  that  he 
yearned  over  them  with  affection."  He  thus  reached 
and  aroused  the  best  in  them. 

"At  no  time  was  he  a  driver,"  said  Mr.  Pinchot 
to  me.  "He  set  an  example  in  life  and  efforts  and  in 
spired  us  to  fullest  endeavor  to  keep  up  with  him." 

By  encouragement  and  faith  he  really  wrought 
many  transformations  among  the  wild  characters 
he  knew  in  the  West.  Mr.  Loeb  told  me  of  a  tough 
character  with  a  prison  record  who  joined  the  Rough 
Riders.  He  evidenced  complete  amendment  in  the 
army,  and  President  Roosevelt  later  gave  him  an  im 
portant  office.  Someone  said  to  the  ex-tough,  "The 
President  has  taken  an  awful  chance  on  you,"  and  he 
replied,  "No,  the  Colonel's  confidence  in  me  is  what 
is  going  to  keep  me  straight." 

He  worked  similar  transformations  in  the  nation 
as  a  whole.  Public  Opinion  said  at  the  time  of  his 
death : 

It  Is  not  merely  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  changed  the  laws — 
a  man  of  smaller  Influence  or  a  national  legislature  under 
no  moral  conviction  might  have  done  that;  his  great 
achievement  was  that  he  changed  the  mental  attitude  of 


HIGH  IDEALS  PREACHED  227 

the  people  and  brought  "big  business"  itself  to  repentance 
and  to  the  ways  of  righteousness. 

Oscar  Straus  said  to  me  that  Theodore  Roosevelt 
could  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the  people  as  could 
no  other  American  except  Lincoln. 

Professor  Harry  Thurston  Peck  had  been  severely 
arraigned  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  smarting  under  it, 
declared  that  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  left  the  Presidency, 
his 

wish  will  no  longer  be  law  to  a  hundred  thousand  office 
holders.  His  denunciations  and  his  eulogies  will  be  listened 
to  with  only  scant  attention.  ...  It  will  be  a  strange  thing 
for  him  to  learn  the  lesson  that  the  power  which  he  exer 
cises  is  the  power  of  an  office  and  not  the  power  of  an  in 
dividual  jnan. 

Was  he  right?  All  agree  that  the  last  ten  years 
of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  life,  while  possessed  of  little  po 
litical  power,  were  the  most  influential  of  his  career. 

I  once  said  to  Colonel  Roosevelt: 

You  have  done  more  for  practical  righteousness  than  any 
other  one  man  in  the  last  generation.  You  have  preached 
but  you  have  also  backed  it  with  such  a  clean  and  upright 
life  that  you  could  fight  vigorously  without  fear  of  being 
"stopped"  by  a  blow  on  a  blemished  place  in  your  character. 
No  man  has  put  more  righteousness  into  laws  and  practices 
than  you. 

He  listened  calmly  but  his  eye  lighted  with 
pleasure  as  he  bowed  his  appreciation.  And  that 
fact  explains  the  effectiveness  of  his  preaching. 


CHAPTER  XI 

WAS  HE  A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS' 
TESTIMONY 

Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  lay  hold  on  eternal  life, 
whereunto  thou  art  also  called,  and  hast  professed  a  good 
profession  before  many  witnesses. — 1  Tim.  6'.  12. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  friends  all  agree  that  he 
was  very  reticent  in  talking  about  or  dis 
cussing  the  subject  of  personal  religion. 

Not  a  single  influential  friend  has  hesitated  to  de 
clare  the  conviction  that  Mr.  Roosevelt's  religion  was 
an  indispensable  part  of  his  being.  As  Dr.  Nicholas 
Murray  Butler  put  it,  "He  never  paraded  his  re 
ligion  or  his  faith  but  both  were  very  fundamental 
with  him." 

His  fear  of  using  religion  as  a  cloak  made  him  go 
almost  to  the  other  extreme  of  neglecting  to  posit 
the  fact  that  his  ideals  and  his  strenuous  righteous 
ness  were  both  the  fruits  of  his  faith.  He  also  so 
stressed  the  necessity  of  applying  the  doctrine  of 
James,  "Show  me  your  faith  by  your  works,"  that 
some  were  likely  to  forget  that  his  "faith"  was  fed 
by  worship,  Bible  study,  prayer,  and  Christian  as 
sociates  as  roots  are  by  soil,  sunshine,  and  moisture 
if  a  tree  bears  fruit.  He  did  use  the  "means  of  grace" 
as  food  for  his  faith  but  so  unobtrusively  that  people 
did  not  notice  it  and  hence  often  lost  sight  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  full-orbed  "Christian." 

228 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        229 

So  many  of  the  people  who  were  constantly  asso 
ciated  with  him  were  so  marked  as  Christians  that 
they  are  qualified  to  recognize  and  affirm  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  discipleship.  This  chapter  will  therefore  deal 
largely  with  the  "testimony"  of  his  friends  which 
came  in  answer  to  personal  requests. 

In  talking  with  me  Kermit  said : 

It  was  inherent  in  father  to  be  reserved  about  the  subject 
of  personal  religion.  He  claimed  that  actions  "talked"  in 
religion  as  in  everything  else.  These  told  of  his  faith  in 
a  clear  way. 

Mrs.  Robinson  also  affirmed: 

My  brother  seldom  talked  about  doctrinal  subjects  in  re 
ligion.  He  had  a  profound  faith  which  he  believed  would 
show  itself  in  his  actions.  In  my  judgment  he  led  in  an 
absolute  and  exact  way  the  life  that  is  laid  down  for  a 
Christian.  He  believed  that  a  Christian  life  was  the  one  to 
lead.  He  believed  absolutely  in  the  value  and  necessity 
of  churches  and  that  worship  on  Sunday  was  helpful  and 
essential. 

In  answer  to  a  letter,  President  Harding,  himself 
an  ardent  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  wrote : 

I  am  convinced  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  had  a  devout  be 
lief  in  God  and  though  a  consistent  churchman  he  never 
paraded  his  belief,  but  it  was  evident  in  his  writings,  in  his 
speeches,  and  in  his  conduct.  His  clean  personal  life  is  the 
best  proof  of  his  faith  and  belief.  That  he  was  a  close 
student  of  the  Bible  was  but  natural  since  he  was  ever  a 
seeker  after  truth.  Unquestionably  he  believed  in  prayer, 
not  only  as  a  means  of  grace  but  as  a  personal  help  and 
consolation. 


230  KOOSEVEI/TS  RELIGION 

General  Leonard  Wood  understood  Mr.  Koosevelt 
as  well  as  any  man  who  is  alive  and  is  himself  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  wrote 
me: 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  true  Christian.  He  believed 
in  God  and  that  all  peoples  must  have  faith,  that  a  nation 
forsaking  its  religion  is  a  decadent  nation.  He  was  a 
churchgoer  as  an  evidence  of  his  faith  and  for  purpose  of 
worship.  His  life,  his  ideals,  and  his  acts  established  his 
faith  in  God.  He  was  a  reader  of  the  Bible.  I  have  no  recol 
lection  of  hearing  him  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  I  be 
lieve  that  he  gathered  many  of  his  ethical  ideas  from  the 
Scriptures.  His  courage  was  maintained  by  his  sense  of 
righteousness  and  justice.  He  was  clean  in  thought  and 
speech;  a  man  of  broad  sympathy;  limited  neither  by  race 
nor  creed.  He  was  a  doer  of  good  works  and  a  strenuous 
advocate  of  those  principles  which  are  laid  down  in  the 
commandments. 

Ex-President,  now  Chief  Justice  Taf  t  in  a  personal 
letter  among  other  things  says,  "Of  course,  he  was 
a  Christian,  and  a  broad  Christian  at  that."  That  is 
high  tribute  when  their  relations  are  recalled. 

"Bill"  Sewall  was  raised  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  told  me:  "My  grandfather  was  a  Con 
gregational  minister,  and  he  had  a  near  relative  who 
put  seven  Sewall  brothers  into  the  Congregational 
ministry."  He  himself  did  not  join  the  church  be 
cause  of  the  aggravating  friction  between  the  only 
two  churches  in  his  small  home  town,  yet  he  af 
firmed  a  simple  and  complete  faith  in  God.  Four  of 
his  five  children  are  already  members.  He  walked 
many  hours  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  the  silences  of 
the  woods  and  on  the  wide  prairies  and  knew  the 


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"BILL"  SEWALL'S  LETTER  DESCRIBING  MR.  ROOSE 
VELT'S  RELIGION. 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        231 

soul  of  his  friend.     His  sweet-spirited  letter  is  re 
produced  just  as  he  wrote  it: 

January  7,  1921 
Dear  Sir: 

Please  pardon  me  for  my  delay.  I  hope  it  has  not  both 
ered  you.  Your  letter  came  about  the  time  we  were  moving 
out  of  our  camps  and  I  forgot  to  answear  but  will  be  glad 
to  do  so  now.  I  think  he  read  the  Bible  a  great  deal  I  never 
saw  him  in  formal  prayer  but  as  prayer  is  the  desire  of 
heart  think  he  prayed  without  ceasing  for  the  desire  of  his 
heart  was  always  to  do  right.  I  am  not  a  very  religious  man 
but  believe  in  real  Christianity.  I  judge  Roosevelt  by  his 
life  and  the  Bible  tells  us  by  their  fruits  you  shall  know 
them  I  once  heard  him  say  he  joined  the  church  on  ac 
count  of  his  example.  I  think  his  early  training  probably 
did  have  an  influence  on  him.  I  think  he  did  attend  church 
when  he  was  where  he  could  and  I  think  you  have  the  right 
title  for  your  book  now  if  what  I  have  written  is  of  any 
use  to  you  I  am  glad  and  hope  it  is  not  too  late. 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  W.  Sewall 

Ex-Secretary  of  War  Colonel  H.  L.  Stimson,  who 
as  the  United  States  district  attorney  under  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt's  appointment  did  yeomanlike  service 
in  enforcing  laws  in  New  York,  wrote  me : 

The  Impression  made  upon  me  by  personal  Intercourse 
with  him,  extending  over  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
left  in  my  mind  a  very  strong  impression  that  he  was  a 
Christian  and  that  the  great  decisions  of  his  life  were  con 
trolled  by  the  standards  of  the  Christian  religion. 

Governor  Henry  J.  Allen,  himself  a  very  active 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  a  stanch  sup 
porter  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  the  darkest  days,  testifies : 


232  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

If  anybody  had  ever  asked  me  if  Colonel  Roosevelt  were 
a  Christian,  I  would  have  instantly  replied  that  he  was, 
Just  on  the  knowledge  I  had  of  him,  his  character,  his  good 
influence,  his  habit  of  church  attendance,  and  his  clean 
personal  life. 

Ex-Senator  Beveridge  replied  to  my  letter : 

I  am  quite  sure  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  a  Christian, 
and  my  evidence  would  be  his  daily  life  and  conversation, 
with  both  of  which  I  was  closely  familiar  for  many  years. 

The  Hon.  James  R.  Garfield,  the  son  of  the  mar 
tyred  President,  who  was  his  friend  in  social  as 
well  as  state  matters,  gave  answer : 

I  know  of  few  men  who  live  a  more  truly  Christian  life 
than  Mr.  Roosevelt  lived.  He  believed  in  church  member 
ship  and  attendance  at  church  and  acted  in  accordance  with 
that  belief.  His  family  life  reflected  his  own  beliefs  in  a 
most  remarkable  way. 

The  Hon.  William  Allen  White,  of  Kansas,  one 
of  the  most  earnest  friends  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  af 
firmed  : 

If  anyone  asked  me  if  Roosevelt  was  a  Christian,  I  should 
say  emphatically  "Yes,  the  highest  type  of  a  Christian, 
a  Christian  fit  to  stand  with  Paul  and  Luther." 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg,  the  editor  of  the  Philadel 
phia  North  American  and  a  "discerning"  friend,  told 
me: 

To  my  mind  he  was  the  highest  type  of  the  Christian 
man.  It  seemed  not  only  necessary  but  perfectly  natural 
for  him  to  be  a  Christian.  Religion  was  a  matter  so  thor 
oughly  settled  in  his  own  mind  that  it  did  not  admit  of 


A  CHRISTIAN?    OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        233 

any  discussion  and  was  not  a  subject  of  controversy.  He 
never  intruded  his  belief  upon  others  but  proved  his  faith 
by  good  deeds  and  let  that  suffice. 

J.  J.  Leary,  so  long  one  of  his  newspaper  friends, 
said  in  a  note  to  me: 

There  never  was  a  cleaner  Christian  in  thought  and  in 
deed  than  Colonel  Roosevelt.  He  not  only  was  clean  him 
self  but  he  insisted  on  those  about  him  being  clean.  For  ex 
ample,  T.  R.  was  not  the  man  to  tell  or  tolerate  the  telling 
in  his  presence  of  any  risque  stories.  There  was  that  about 
him  which  made  men  careless  in  such  matters  as  careful 
of  their  speech  as  they  would  be  in  the  presence  of  a  group 
of  little  girls.  He  was  thoroughly  religious  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term. 

Dean  Lewis,  of  the  Law  School  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  very  close  to  him  during 
his  latter  years  and  the  author  of  one  of  the  best 
lives  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  wrote  me : 

To  me,  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  a  Christian  because  he 
was  throughout  his  life  a  follower  of  Christ's  teachings  and 
because  he  believed  intensely  in  the  best  Christian  ideals 
of  family  and  personal  responsibility. 

William  R.  Thayer,  another  author  of  a  "life" 
and  a  classmate  in  Harvard,  answered  my  inquiry: 

I  do  not  know  exactly  how  you  define  a  Christian.  If 
you  mean  one  who  practiced  the  fundamental  virtues,  ex 
pressed  by  the  Golden  Rule  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
I  should  say  emphatically  "Yes." 

There  were  only  a  few  churches  in  Oyster  Bay, 
but  Mr.  Roosevelt  wn«  always  the  friend  of  all  the 


234  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

pastors  there.  Two  Methodist  preachers  came  to 
know  him  well  enough  to  testify  very  positively.  One, 
the  Rev.  Charles  R.  Woodson,  declared  that 

the  people  of  Oyster  Bay  held  Theodore  Roosevelt  in  the 
highest  esteem  for  his  exemplified  Christian  character  and 
neighborly  spirit.  He  proved  to  them  his  faith  by  his 
works. 

And  the  Rev.  W.  I.  Bowman  affirmed : 

When  I  think  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  crystal  faith,  his  ac 
curate  and  masterly  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  his  deep  rever 
ence  for  holy  things,  his  solemn  discharge  of  religious 
duties,  his  fervent  regard  for  the  good  and  true,  and  his 
profound  contempt  for,  and  loathing  of,  the  counterfeit,  I 
feel  my  utter  inability  to  do  justice  even  in  the  remotest 
degree  in  describing  his  "faith." 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  of  nineteen  years 
standing,  during  nine  of  which  I  was  in  close  fellowship 
with  him.  I  have  never  known  a  truer  exponent  of  the 
vital  principles  of  Christianity  than  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  once  said  concerning  Lyman  Abbott, 
"I  have  a  peculiar  feeling  for  your  father"  (spoken 
to  Lawrence  Abbott). 

I  therefore  sought  an  interview  with  Dr.  Abbott, 
a  saintly  man  past  eighty-five,  with  a  brain  as  alert 
and  bright  as  ever,  and  he  gave  me  the  following 
carefully  phrased  statement: 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  religion  was  the  key  to  his 
whole  life  and  the  explanation  of  his  ideals  and  success. 
That,  however,  need  not  include  any  special  theological 
form.  He  was  very  slow  to  give  expression  to  any  religious 
experience.  He  was  always  reticent  about  that.  But  there 
is  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  of  his  faith  in  God.  But  he 


Harris  &  Ewin* 

GRACE  REFORMED  CHURCH,  IOTH  STREET,  N.  W., 
NEAR  RHODE  ISLAND  AVENUE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  church  home  for  seven  years  (the  insert  is  the 

original  chapel  which  he  first  attended,  and  which  stands 

on  the  back  of  this  lot). 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        235 

would  not  define  the  term  "God."  I  personally  cannot  see 
a  medium  of  getting  a  conception  of  God  through  nature, 
but  we  must  get  it  through  personality.  If  Jesus  Christ  is 
not  the  supremest  manifestation  of  God,  if  he  does  not 
answer  who  or  what  God  is,  then  we  have  no  answer  at  all. 
I  do  not  know  Mr.  Roosevelt's  doctrine  of  Christ.  I  can 
simply  say  that  he  demanded  the  concrete  as  I  do  and  cer 
tainly  personified  God.  He  did  not  endeavor  to  explain  the 
godward  side  of  Jesus  but  was  attracted  to  and  imitated 
his  manward  side  of  service.  Each  must  serve  God  ac 
cording  to  his  own  temperament.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a 
man  of  very  deep  spiritual  nature — that  is  shown  by  his 
deeds,  not  his  professions.  It  would  be  hard  to  fix  him 
according  to  any  specific  creed  because  that  is  a  classifica 
tion  of  religious  experience.  He,  however,  had  definite  be 
liefs.  He  quoted  Micah  6.  8  very  much  as  his  ideal.  Ac 
cording  to  that  test,  he  was  a  Christian.  "To  do  justice"- 
no  man  in  our  history  has  done  more  to  put  righteousness 
and  justice  into  our  life.  That  also  fits  Paul's  definition  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  "Righteousness  and  peace,"  etc.  "To 
love  mercy" — a  story  will  illustrate  that. 

Our  weekly  staff  luncheon  was  to  occur  at  the  National 
Arts  Club  and  two  ambassadors  from  South  American 
countries  and  other  distinguished  guests  were  invited. 
When  we  arrived  Mr.  Roosevelt  found  a  little  lad  who  could 
not  talk  English,  and  who  was  crying  bitterly  because  lost. 
His  father,  a  Hungarian  miner,  and  his  mother  were  to 
take  a  boat  home  the  next  day  and  he  wandered  out  of  the 
hotel  and  didn't  know  its  name  or  location.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
took  the  boy's  hand,  quieted  him,  got  his  confidence  so  he 
was  willing  to  go  with  him  to  the  police  station,  where  Mr. 
Roosevelt  secured  the  cooperation  of  the  police  and  found 
the  parents.  Thirty  minutes  later  he  showed  up  at  the 
luncheon  without  any  excuse.  That  was  mercy. 

The  Hon.  Oscar  S.  Straus  has  been  the  only  He 
brew  who  ever  served  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  United 
States.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  high  culture  and  a 


236  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

marked  religious  spirit,  heartily  devoted  to  the  serv 
ice  of  his  fellows.  He  gave  me  an  interesting  inter 
view.  It  is  given  here  quite  fully  because  it  strongly 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  drawn 
to  spiritually  minded  men  wherever  they  appear. 
Mr.  Straus'  record  in  Europe  initiated  the  fellow 
ship  with  Mr.  Roosevelt.  Among  other  things  Mr. 
Straus  said: 

My  father,  Lazarus  Straus,  who  resided  in  Rhenish  Ba 
varia,  took  part  in  the  German  Revolution  of  1848.  When 
the  Revolution,  which  was  a  struggle  for  constitutionalism, 
failed,  like  many  others  who  took  part  therein,  he  came  to 
America  and  in  1854  settled  in  Talbotton,  Georgia,  where 
my  brothers  and  I,  when  we  attained  school  age,  attended 
the  Baptist  Sunday  school.  My  father,  being  an  educated 
man,  was  versed  in  the  Bible,  which  he  read  in  the  original 
Hebrew.  The  circuit  preachers  of  the  various  Protestant 
denominations  frequently  came  to  our  home  and  discussed 
with  him  the  Bible  text.  I  was  at  times  present  at  these 
conferences  and  derived  from  them  much  valuable  in 
struction.  They  served  at  this  early  age  to  give  me  a  very 
sympathetic  understanding  of  the  real  Christian  spirit. 

I  was  a  guest  at  the  White  House  overnight  at  one  time. 
The  other  guests  were  the  venerable  and  learned  Rev.  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott,  editor  of  The  Outlook,  and  his  son  Lawrence. 
Before  breakfast  we  took  a  short  walk  in  the  White  House 
grounds  and  the  discussion  drifted  to  some  newspaper 
criticism  which  charged  Mr.  Roosevelt  with  prejudice.  I 
listened  to  the  discussion  between  Dr.  Abbott  and  him,  and 
he  turned  to  me  asking  whether  I  thought  he  was  actuated 
by  prejudice.  I  replied  then,  which  my  subsequent  in 
timacy  justifies  me  in  emphasizing,  that  most  public  men 
I  had  met  had  religious  prejudices,  some  of  whom  had  suc 
ceeded — and  I  mentioned  Cleveland  as  an  example — in  over 
coming  them,  but  as  to  him,  Roosevelt,  I  would  say  he  had 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        237 

no  occasion  to  overcome  his  prejudices,  as  I  had  observed 
he  had  no  prejudices  to  overcome. 

In  June,  1906,  while  I  was  at  one  of  the  many  enjoyable 
luncheons  at  the  White  House,  he  asked  me  to  wait  while 
he  went  with  the  various  guests  into  an  adjoining  room, 
and  after  he  had  dismissed  them,  he  came  and  joined  me 
and  said  that  he  had  decided  that  he  wanted  me  in  his 
Cabinet  as  soon  as  a  vacancy  occurred,  which  would  take 
place  in  a  few  months,  when  he  had  in  mind  the  appoint 
ment  of  Attorney-General  Moody  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
"Straus,  I  want  you  in  my  Cabinet  not  because  you  are  a 
Jew,  but  I'm  mighty  glad  you  are  one."  To  which  I  re 
plied:  "What  you  say  is  most  gratifying  to  me,  for  if  I 
thought  that  you  decided  to  appoint  me  because  I  am  a 
Jew,  it  would  not  have  been  agreeable  to  me,  as  I  am 
primarily  an  American  and  my  religion  is  incidental  just 
as  yours  is,  and  subordinate  to  my  Americanism."  He  re 
plied,  "I  know  that,  and  for  that  reason  all  the  more  it 
gives  me  pleasure  to  appoint  you." 

You  ask  me  to  give  my  ideas  about  Roosevelt's  religion. 
Roosevelt  was  a  Christian  in  the  same  sense  that  George 
Washington,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  were  Christians.  His 
Christianity  was  in  no  sense  ecclesiastical.  It  was  spirit 
ual,  broad  and  benevolent.  I  never  knew  a  man  who  ex 
emplified  more  fully  in  word  and  in  deed,  in  sentiment  and 
in  spirit,  in  private  life  and  in  public  office,  the  injunction 
of  the  prophet,  "To  do  justly,  love  mercy  and  walk  hum 
bly  before  God"  than  Roosevelt.  In  fact,  he  frequently 
quoted  this  passage  of  Scripture. 

Mr.  H.  L.  Stoddard  answered  the  question,  aHow 
do  you  know  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  faith  in  God?"  for 
me  as  follows: 

There  is  a  very  complete  answer  in  recalling  his  favorite 


238  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

hymn,  which  was  the  only  one  sung  at  his  funeral.  A 
favorite  song  is  a  window  into  the  soul.  It  was: 

"How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  His  excellent  word! 
What  more  can  he  say  than  to  you  he  hath  said, 
To  you  who  for  refuge  to  Jesus  have  fled?" 

I  always  considered  Mr.  Roosevelt  a  very  devout  man.  He 
thought  about  religion  and  the  Bible  much  more  than  he 
talked  about  it.  His  religion  fed  the  roots  of  the  things 
he  did,  and  he  believed  that  his  deeds  were  the  strongest 
kind  of  profession. 

Dr.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  in  talking  with  me 
said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a  "professing  Chris 
tian  though  not  a  theologian.  He  did  not  have  a 
mind  for  philosophic  argument.  Results  established 
facts  for  him."  For  example : 

He  was  never  interested  in  the  discussion  concerning  the 
divinity  of  Jesus;  he  never  had  any  occasion  for  doubting 
it.  To  him  Jesus  was  a  very  real  person.  Moral  courage  is 
absolutely  impossible  without  character,  and  he  had  an 
abundance  of  the  former.  He  would  never  have  wasted 
time  going  to  church  if  it  had  been  to  him  an  empty  form. 

A  few  of  Gifford  Pinchot's  statements  as  he  talked 
the  subject  over  with  me  were: 

Mr.  Roosevelt  had  some  things  he  kept  in  an  inner 
citadel;  no  one  was  allowed  to  drag  them  out.  One  was 
religion.  The  things  he  cared  for  the  most  deeply  he  was 
reticent  about;  for  example,  he  did  not  praise  or  boast  about 
his  children.  Religion  touched  him  deeply,  and,  as  with  all 
things  that  did  that,  about  it  he  talked  little.  How  would 
I  know  he  had  faith  in  God?  By  his  familiarity  with  the 
Bible,  his  ability  to  sense  evil  in  men,  and  quickly  and 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        239 

almost  unerringly  separate  the  true  from  the  false.  He 
went  to  church  as  a  public  testimony  to  the  fact  that  he 
a  Christian. 


W.  Emlen  Roosevelt,  his  cousin  and  associate 
from  boyhood,  never  even  thought  of  "doubting  his 
faith  in  God" : 

It  was  such  a  vital  part  of  his  being.  Even  as  young 
men,  when  we  would  lie  about  in  the  woods  resting  during 
our  hunting  trips,  he  would  talk  about  God  and  related 
subjects  in  a  perfectly  natural  way. 

While  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  considerate  of  all  forms 
of  faith,  he  had  no  patience  with  the  atheist — one 
who  was  so  wise  and  egotistical  as  to  dogmatically 
declare  that  there  is  no  God.  He  once  called  Tom 
Paine  that  "dirty  little  atheist."  That  aroused 
someone  to  write  him  denying  that  Mr.  Paine 
was  an  atheist.  He  explained  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend  that  his  reference  was  primarily  to  the 
physical  condition  of  Mr.  Paine,  but  Mr.  Bishop 
assured  me  that  while  it  furnished  the  immedi 
ate  occasion  for  him  to  apply  the  term,  yet  never 
theless  in  the  letter  he  also  expressed  his  con 
tempt  for  atheists  in  general.  The  epistle  was  di 
rected  to  "Dear  Dan"  and  in  it  he  admitted  that 
though  Tom  Paine  was  not  a  literal  atheist,  yet  while 
acknowledging  the  existence  of  an  unknown  God,  he 
nevertheless  denied  a  belief  in  the  God  of  the  Chris 
tians.  He  then  affirmed,  however,  that  anyone  who 
had  lain  several  weeks  in  bed  without  getting  out 
for  any  purpose  whatsoever  must  literally  be  dirty. 

Major  George  Haven  Putnam  told  me  that  Mr. 


240  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Roosevelt  was  such  a  "profound  theist  that  he  was 
intolerant  toward  all  atheists,  and  that  explains  his 
attack  on  Paine,  whom  he  thought  to  be  an  atheist." 
Mr.  Bishop  said  to  ine: 

From  my  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  him  and 
as  the  literary  executor  of  his  writings,  I  am  sure  that  he 
had  a  thorough  contempt  for  an  atheist.  He  settled  every 
question  of  life  upon  faith  in  God. 

Mr.  Leary  said  to  the  writer : 

A  New  England  Catholic  official  frankly  explained  that 
in  America,  where  One  Supreme  Being  was  recognized,  there 
was  not  the  occasion  for  the  church  to  interest  itself  in 
affairs  of  state  as  in  many  European  countries.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  commented  favorably  on  this  statement,  and  after  re 
ferring  to  the  fact  that  the  "Grand  Lodge  of  the  Orient" 
[the  Masons]  was  an  outlaw  with  other  Masons  because  it 
did  not  believe  in  God  he  said,  "That  same  atheism  among 
the  leaders  is  largely  responsible  for  many  troubles  in 
[naming  a  certain  European  country].  It  is  a  sinister  in 
fluence.  The  people  themselves  are  religious,  and  that  fact 
probably  saves  the  nation."  And  in  speaking  of  "my  re 
ligion,  my  faith"  as  being  included  in  Micah  6.  8,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  concluded,  "I  am  always  sorry  for  the  faithless 
man  just  as  I  am  sorry  for  the  woman  without  virtue." 

Lawrence  Abbott  in  answering  my  question  illus 
trated  the  Christian  spirit  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  by  re 
ferring  to  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Abbott  when  he 
agreed  to  join  the  Outlook  staff : 

I  have  no  right  to  formulate  Theodore  Roosevelt's  re 
ligious  beliefs  or  views;  he  never  formulated  them  to  me 
nor  authorized  me  to  speak  for  him.  My  impression,  how 
ever,  may  perhaps  be  stated  in  this  way: 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        241 

He  believed  in  the  universe,  in  a  Great  Power  behind  the 
universe,  that  Power  which  Matthew  Arnold  calls  the 
Power  not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness.  He  per 
sonified  this  Power  but  he  did  not  define  it.  He  did  not 
believe  in  a  mechanical,  rationalistic  universe  that  operates 
through  blind  force. 

He  believed  that  the  human  race  has  been  placed  on  this 
planet  in  this  great  and  terrifying  universe  for  a  definite 
purpose,  and  his  interest  was  to  do  what  he  could  to  fur 
ther  that  purpose.  For  this  reason  he  wanted  to  associate 
himself  with  men  and  women  of  spiritual  vision  and  un 
derstanding  no  matter  to  what  church  they  belonged.  He 
was  interested  in  the  spirit  of  religion  rather  than  in  its 
form.  I  think  his  creed  could  be  briefly  written  by  combin 
ing  the  eighth  verse  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Micah  with 
the  thirty-ninth  verse  of  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  Saint 
Matthew.  I  think  that  he  believed  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
is  the  finest  and  divinest  spirit  that  any  man  ever  knew 
anything  about,  but  I  do  not  think  that  he  was  interested 
in  metaphysical  or  dogmatic  arguments  about  it.  He  be 
lieved  in  the  divine  in  man,  in  art,  in  history;  he  was  a 
regular  attendant  at  church,  not,  in  my  judgment,  because 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  but  because  it  was  his  con 
viction  that  the  church — and  I  use  the  word  in  its  very 
broadest  sense — furnishes  the  greatest,  the  most  compre 
hensive  and  the  most  effective  association  of  men  and 
women  who  hold  this  spiritual  and  divine  view  of  the  uni 
verse  and  who  wanted  to  work  together  for  its  furtherance. 
This  "spirit"  in  Roosevelt  is  expressed  in  a  letter  which 
he  wrote  to  me  in  the  spring  of  1917  about  my  father.  The 
passage  runs  as  follows: 

"It  was  your  father  who  was  the  decisive  factor  in 
getting  me  to  accept.  I  might  have  accepted  your  request 
alone;  but  I  have  a  peculiar  feeling  for  your  father.  I  re 
gard  him  and  have  long  regarded  him  as  a  man  who  in  a 
way  stands  entirely  apart  from  all  others  in  our  national 
life;  and  if  the  expression  does  not  seem  exaggerated,  my 
regard  for  him  has  in  it  a  little  of  that  feeling  of  reverence 


242  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

which  is  perhaps  the  finest  feeling  an  old  man  can  inspire 
in  younger  men — even  when  these  younger  men,  like  my 
self,  become  old  men!" 

The  prophet  Micah  and  Jesus  of  Nazareth  declared  that 
a  sense  of  justice,  a  life  of  neighborliness,  and  a  spirit  of 
reverence  are  the  three  foundation  stones  of  true  religion; 
judged  by  their  standards,  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  pro 
foundly  religious  man. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  religion,  some  spin 
fine  sentences  about  righteousness  and  justice  and 
fairness  and  loyalty  as  though  they  had  a  separate 
entity.  But  that  is  a  mistake.  As  Mr.  Eugene  H. 
Thwing  says  in  closing  his  study  of  Roosevelt's  life : 

No  man  can  possibly  stand  for  truth  and  righteousness 
or  employ  their  power  unless  he  is  in  direct  relationship 
with  the  Divine  Source.  The  wireless  connection  must  be 
established  with  God  at  one  end  and  man  at  the  other.  Then 
the  man  can  exclaim  boldly  and  truly  with  Paul:  "I  can 
do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me." 
Does  this  sound  too  much  like  a  sermon?  Tell  me,  if  you 
can,  how  to  approach  the  mighty  theme  of  truth  and  right 
eousness  with  God  left  out. 

The  whole  world  always  thought  of  him  as  "preach 
ing  and  practicing  moral  truths  dear  alone  to  a 
Christian."  Even  when  an  English  university  gave 
him  a  degree  the  students  greeted  him  with  a  dog 
gerel  : 

"But  his  prowess  in  the  jungle  is  as  nothing  to  his  fame 
In    the    copy-books    cum    Sunday    Chapel    Missionary 
game." 

Then  after  decrying  their  sins  before  the  "moral 


A  CHRISTIAN?    OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        243 

Theodore,"  they  express  their  appreciation  of  the 
"pretty  decent  things  he  has  done"  and  end  play 
fully  with: 

"So  when  you  come  to  speak  to  us,  in  Providence's  name 
Give  the  go-by  to  the  Sunday  Chapel  Missionary  game." 

When  he  did  finally  speak  he  begged  their  pardon  for 
disobeying  their  exhortation  and  proceeded  to 
preach. 

I  asked  Mr.  Bishop,  "Why  did  Mr.  Roosevelt  say 
so  little  about  personal  religion  and  his  own  views  ?" 

It  was  not  like  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  talk  about  religion.  He 
took  it  for  granted  that  his  talks  on  morals  and  his  life  and 
actions  would  witness  sufficiently,  just  as  his  vigorous  exer 
cises  told  of  his  health.  To  talk  about  it  seemed  to  him 
to  be  trying  to  make  something  apparent  that  ought  to  be 
apparent  of  itself. 

Mr.  Leary  describes  a  Sunday  when  dry  pleurisy 
held  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  home,  and  being  told  that  the 
boys  were  surprised  that  he  had  missed  church,  he 
"preached"  about  his  religion  and  ended  it  with: 

Well,  I  have  been  talking  religion.  It's  something  I  do 
very  seldom.  After  all,  one's  religion  is  a  private  thing, 
and  one  is  apt  to  be  misunderstood.  So,  if  I  should  say 
publicly  what  I  said  here  to-day,  some  half-baked  preacher 
would  attack  me  to-morrow  for  indorsing  the  Pope,  another 
because  I  am  a  Mohammedan  at  heart,  and  another  would 
see  in  my  tolerance  for  the  rabbi  proof  that  my  right  name 
is  Rosenfelt  or  Rosenthal.i 

Mr.  Roosevelt  always  depended  upon  the  "right- 

VLeary,  Talks  With  T.  R.,  p.  68.  By  permission  of  Houghton  Mifflin  Com 
pany. 


244  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

ness"  of  a  message  or  an  action  to  carry  it  through 
—he  did  not  want  either  it  or  himself  to  win  because 
it  was  dressed  up  and  for  that  reason  alone  secure 
a  following.  He  believed  that  "goodness"  ought  to 
win  by  virtue  of  its  innate  claim  on  man  and  felt, 
therefore,  that  a  cause  approved  by  "goodness" 
would  ultimately  win  if  it  were  made  clear  to  the 
people.  A  good  many  men  have  been  elected  because 
sponsored  for  by  church  membership,  and  sometimes 
that  has  led  people  to  expect  too  much  from  an  in 
dividual  or  it  has  caused  them  to  shift  the  burden 
too  far  from  the  individual's  shoulders  and  so  hold 
the  church  as  such  responsible.  When  Mr.  Roosevelt 
entered  politics  lawyers  frequently  quoted  the  Scrip 
tures  to  enforce  their  messages  or  even  to  appeal  in 
an  unjust  case  to  the  religious  instincts  of  a  jury. 
Politicians  went  so  far  as  to  join  the  church  to  get 
votes.  Artificial  reformers  thus  wore  hypocritical 
garbs  as  they  rode  into  office  and  openly  disgraced 
the  church.  At  the  same  time  when  church  members 
failed  it  was  supposed  to  prove  the  spuriousness  of 
their  faith  because  common  opinion  very  carelessly 
accredited  church  membership  as  a  claim  to  superior 
holiness  when  it  should  have  been  accepted,  as  now, 
merely  as  the  enrollment  of  a  student  in  the  school 
of  Christ  to  learn  goodness.  Mr.  Loeb,  agreeing  with 
the  above  putting  of  the  case,  went  on  to  say : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  want  to  have  any  artificial  aid — 
he  wanted  his  character  and  his  measures  to  carry  him 
through,  and  hence  after  he  entered  politics  vigorously  he 
refused  also  to  take  any  further  Masonic  degrees,  fearing 
that  it  would  be  interpreted  as  a  bid  for  backing. 


A  CHRISTIAN?     OTHERS'  TESTIMONY        245 

Mr.  Washburne,  an  earnest  churchman  and  one 
of  the  eight  students  who  for  four  years  fellowshiped 
with  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  his  private  Harvard  boarding 
club  and  afterward  a  Congressman,  in  a  personal 
letter  says,  "I  never  heard  him  discuss  strictly  re 
ligious  topics.  You  know  'The  shallows  murmur 
but  the  deeps  are  dumb.' " 

This  chapter  could  not  be  closed  better  than  by  a 
statement  prepared  by  Herman  Hagedorn  as  a 
memorial  resolution  on  Roosevelt's  death  for  the 
National  Council  of  Boy  Scouts.  It  is  fine  evidence 
that  he  was  a  Christian : 

He  was  found  faithful  over  a  few  things  and  he  was  made 
ruler  over  many;  he  cut  his  own  trail  clean  and  straight, 
and  millions  followed  him  toward  the  light. 

He  was  frail;  he  made  himself  a  tower  of  strength.  He 
was  timid;  he  made  himself  a  lion  of  courage.  He  was  a 
dreamer;  he  became  one  of  the  great  doers  of  all  time. 

Men  put  their  trust  in  him,  women  found  a  champion  in 
him,  kings  stood  in  awe  of  him,  but  children  made  him 
their  playmate. 

He  broke  a  nation's  slumber  with  his  cry,  and  it  rose  up. 
He  touched  the  eyes  of  blind  men  with  a  flame  and  gave 
them  vision.  Souls  became  swords  through  him,  swords 
became  servants  of  God. 

He  was  loyal  to  his  country,  and  he  exacted  loyalty; 
he  loved  many  lands,  but  he  loved  his  own  land  best. 

He  was  terrible  in  battle,  but  tender  to  the  weak;  joyous 
and  tireless,  being  free  of  self-pity,  clean  with  a  cleanness 
that  cleansed  the  air  like  a  gale. 

His  courtesy  knew  no  wealth  or  class;  his  friendship  no 
creed  or  color  or  race.  His  courage  stood  every  onslaught 
of  savage  beast  and  ruthless  man,  of  loneliness,  of  victory, 
of  defeat. 

His    mind    was    eager,    his    heart    was    true,    his    body 


246  KOOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

and  spirit  defiant  of  obstacles,  ready  to  meet  what  might 
come. 

He  fought  injustice  and  tyranny,  bore  sorrow  gallantly; 
loved  all  nature,  bleak  spaces  and  hardy  companions, 
hazardous  adventure,  and  the  zest  of  battle.  Wherever  he 
went  he  carried  his  own  pack;  and  in  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  he  kept  his  conscience  for  his  guide. 


CHAPTER  XII 

WAS  HE   A   CHRISTIAN?     HIS   OWN 
TESTIMONY 

"The  true  Christian  is  the  true  citizen,  lofty  of  purpose, 
resolute  in  endeavor  or  ready  for  a  hero's  deeds,  but  never 
looking  down  on  his  task  because  it  is  cast  in  the  day  of 
small  things." 

Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits.— Matt.  7.  16. 

A  MERE  set  of  cold  creedal  tests  cannot  prove 
one  a  Christian.  But  there  are  distinctive 
"marks."  "Profession"  does  not  make  one  a 
Christian,  though  it  may  help  one  to  more  com 
pletely  develop  the  traits  of  a  Christian.  Only  the 
shirker  remains  out  of  the  church  in  order  that  he 
may  not  be  as  sternly  judged  by  the  world  as  if  a 
member.  If  we  believe  we  are  God's  sons,  then  we 
ought  to  act  like  it  whether  an  open  member  of  the 
church  or  not.  No  man  is  relieved  from  "duty,"  nor 
can  one  defend  a  lower  standard  of  living  simply 
because  not  "in  the  church."  A  sincere  man  may 
be  a  heretic  and  still  be  a  Christian,  though  he  will 
suffer  from  his  erroneous  "doctrines"  and  actions  as 
will  an  orange  tree  when  wrongly  cultured  or  a 
wheat  field  ignorantly  handled.  A  right  belief  helps 
get  larger  fruitage.  To  study  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  to  be 
convinced  that  he  was  very  nearly  right  because  he 
bore  so  many  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Let  us  look  at  the 

247 


248  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"marks"  that  prove  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  be  a  Christian. 
These  traits  or  "marks"  will  be  presented  in  cate 
gorical  statements  preceding  corroborative  evidence. 

He  was  innately  and  constantly  reverent. 

Newspaper  men  are  prone  to  joke  about  everything, 
including  religion,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  carried  such 
an  air  of  reverence  that  they  never  treated  that  sub 
ject  lightly  in  his  presence.  "He  set  them  a  good 
example,"  said  Mr.  Thompson.  "While  he  turned 
jokes,  for  example,  on  every  other  phase  of  Mr. 
Bryan's  life,  he  avoided  doing  what  others  did, 
namely,  turn  jokes  about  his  religion.  He  never  prac 
ticed  or  encouraged  criticism  of  anyone's  religious 
views ;  that  was,  to  him,  a  sacred  matter.  While  he 
never  said  a  corrective  word,  the  newspaper  boys  ad 
mit  that  they  were  influenced  unconsciously  by  his 
character  and  'faith.'  They  cleansed  their  lan 
guage,  walked  circumspectly,  and  hid  from  him  their 
evil  and  despicable  deeds,  if  they  had  any." 

President  Roosevelt  was  much  criticized  because 
he  tried  to  take  from  the  coins  the  words  "In  God 
we  trust." 

In  a  letter  to  a  protesting  clergyman  he  expressed 
the  conviction  that  to  put  such  a  motto  on  coins 
worked  no  benefit,  but  positive  injury,  since  it  aug 
mented  an  irreverence  which  was  likely  to  lead  to 
sacrilege.  He  felt  that  such  a  rich  and  dignified 
sentence  "should  be  treated  and  uttered  only  with 
that  fine  reverence  which  necessarily  implies  a  cer 
tain  exaltation  of  spirit." 

He  agrees  that  the  phrase  should  be  inscribed  on 
public  buildings  and  monuments  where  it  will  carry 


Harris  &  E 


GRACE  REFORMED  CHURCH 
(INTERIOR  VIEWS). 

Above— The  Communion  Altar  before  which  Mr. 
Roosevelt  regularly  took  the  sacred  elements  while 
in  \Vashington.  (He  presented  the  two  Bishops' 
chairs  to  the  church.) 

Below — The  pew  occupied  by  President  Roosevelt 
in  the  Washington  Church.  (The  "Behr"  window 
is  on  the  left.) 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       249 

the  message  of  reverence.  He  affirms  that  since  the 
phrase  is  used  on  commonly  handled  coins  it  becomes 
an  object  of  jest  and  ridicule  in  word  and  cartoon, 
as,  for  example,  "In  'gold'  we  trust."  He  concludes 
his  defense  by  saying  that  he  will  restore  the  motto 
if  Congress  orders,  but,  "I  earnestly  trust  that  the 
religious  sentiment  of  the  country,  the  spirit  of 
reverence  .  .  .  will  prevent  it." 

Mr.  Hagedorn  tells  us  that  Mr.  Koosevelt  as  a  boy 
was  "bright  mentally  but  not  brilliant,"  with  a  good 
memory,  and  clung  to  reading.  "He  had  lofty  im 
pulses  and  the  best  of  intentions ;  he  was  naturally 
religious ;  he  was  singularly  pure-minded." 

He  was  spiritually  minded. 

In  an  early  speech  as  Vice-President  with  the  new 
world  problems  brought  by  the  Spanish  War  facing 
the  nation,  he  insisted:  "We  tread  the  rough  road 
of  endeavor,  smiting  down  the  wrong  and  battling 
for  the  right  as  Greatheart  smote  and  battled  in 
Bunyan's  immortal  story." 

This  is  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  a  deeply 
spiritual  author  and  reveals  admiration  for  one  of 
his  purest  characters. 

He  pleads  for  sensitiveness  of  "soul"  when  he  de 
livers  his  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  Lectures. 

It  has  been  finely  said  that  the  supreme  task  of  humanity 
is  to  subordinate  the  whole  fabric  of  civilization  to  the 
service  of  the  soul.  There  is  a  soul  in  the  community,  a 
soul  in  the  nation,  just  exactly  as  there  is  a  soul  in  the  in 
dividual,  and  exactly  as  the  individual  hopelessly  mars 
himself  if  he  lets  his  conscience  be  dulled  by  constant 
repetition  of  unworthy  acts,  so  the  nation  will  hopelessly 
blunt  the  popular  conscience  if  it  permits  its  public  men 


250  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

continually  to  do  acts  which  the  nation  in  its  heart  of 
hearts  knows  are  acts  that  cast  discredit  upon  our  whole 
public  life. 

And  in  speaking  on  "Ideals  of  Citizenship,"  he 
said:  "But  after  that  certain  amount  of  material 
prosperity  has  been  gained,  then  the  things  that 
really  count  most  are  the  things  of  the  soul  rather 
than  the  things  of  money."  And  in  his  lecture  on 
"Applied  Ethics,"  delivered  at  Harvard,  he  said : 
"The  abler  a  man  is  the  worse  he  is  from  the  public 
standpoint  if  his  ability  is  not  guided  by  conscience" 
(p.  22). 

After  his  vigorous  campaign  and  election  in  1904, 
in  which  he  battled  against  the  selfish  money  power 
of  the  nation,  he  feared  that  materialism  would 
smother  the  soul  of  America,  and  so  he  writes  Mis 
tral,  the  French  poet  of  Provence,  and  the  letter  was 
reproduced  in  The  Outlook,  October  27,  1920 : 

My  dear  Mr.  Mistral: 

Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  I  were  equally  pleased  with  the  book 
and  the  medal,  and  none  the  less  because  for  nearly  twenty 
years  we  have  possessed  a  copy  of  Mireio.  That  copy  we 
shall  keep  for  old  association's  sake;  though  this  new  copy 
with  the  personal  inscription  by  you  must  hereafter  occupy 
the  place  of  honor. 

All  success  to  you  and  your  associates  I  You  are  teaching 
the  lesson  that  none  need  more  to  learn  than  we  of  the 
West,  we  of  the  eager,  restless,  wealth-seeking  nation;  the 
lesson  that  after  a  certain  not  very  high  level  of  material 
well-being  has  been  reached,  then  the  things  that  really 
count  in  life  are  the  things  of  the  spirit.  Factories  and 
railways  are  good  up  to  a  certain  point;  love  of  home  and 
country,  love  of  lover  for  sweetheart,  love  of  beauty  in 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       251 

man's  work  and  in  nature,  love  and  emulation  of  daring 
and  of  lofty  endeavor,  the  homely  workaday  virtues  and 
the  heroic  virtues — these  are  better  still,  and  if  they  are 
lacking,  no  piled-up  riches,  no  rearing,  clanging  industrial 
ism,  no  feverish  and  many-sided  activity  shall  avail  either 
the  individual  or  the  nation.  I  do  not  undervalue  these 
things  of  a  nation's  body;  I  only  desire  that  they  shall  not 
make  us  forget  that  beside  the  nation's  body  there  is  also 
the  nation's  soul. 

Mrs.  Robinson  felt  that  this  letter  was  "one  of  the 
most  beautiful  utterances  of  his  life."  Mistral  said 
on  receiving  the  letter,  "It  is  he  who  has  given  new 
hope  to  humanity.'7 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  said  in  an  editorial  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  "was  a  man  of  deep  religious  feeling."  He 
went  to  church  as  the  musically  inclined  go  to  con 
certs  and  the  naturalists  to  the  woods.  He  found 
something  there  for  which  this  "feeling"  yearned. 

Dr.  Lambert  said  to  me: 

He  was  a  man  of  great  spiritual  insight  and  development. 
His  fights  for  the  right  were  but  the  expression  of  his 
spiritual  beliefs — such  outward  expressions  required  a  great 
spirit  to  explain  them. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  after  recounting  a  visit  in 
the  hospital  when  he  was  in  great  pain  and  refused 
to  notice  it,  explained  to  me : 

He  compelled  his  body  to  obey  him,  so  that  without  ces 
sation  because  of  pain  or  anything  else  he  accomplished  a 
wonderful  amount  of  work.  His  great  spirit  dulled  the  cut 
of  pain;  it  could  not  disturb  him  or  check  his  activities. 
Such  a  conquering  spirit  gets  its  strength  from  but  one 
source — faith  in  God. 


252  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Mr.  Leary  says  that  after  "the  hurt  received  at 
Chicago"  Mr.  Roosevelt  talked  with  him  for  the  first 
and  only  time  about  religion  and  says :  "During  this 
talk  I  could  not  down  the  feeling  that  like  many  an 
other,  wounded  in  spirit,  he  was  consciously  or  un 
consciously  turning  to  religion  for  comfort."1 

In  1911  he  delivered  the  "William  Belden  Noble" 
lecture  at  Harvard,  under  the  title,  "Applied  Ethics." 
The  deed  of  gift  endowing  the  course  says  :  "The  ob 
ject  of  the  lectures  is  to  continue  the  mission  of  Wil 
liam  Belden  Noble,  whose  supreme  desire  it  was  to 
extend  the  influence  of  Jesus  as  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life." 

The  preceding  lectures  had  been  "The  Ethics  of 
Jesus"  by  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  King,  D.D.,  president 
of  Oberlin,  and  "Christ  and  the  Human  Race,"  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Hall,  D.D.,  president  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary.  Would  Mr.  Roosevelt  have 
entered  this  definite  religious  field  if  not  sympa 
thetically  attuned  to  it  ? 

He  put  great  emphasis  on  character,  as  something 
beyond  mere  intellectual  attainments.  Major  Put 
nam  says  that  he  "was  always  honest  himself  because 
he  drew  on  his  character  to  decide  what  was  right. 
This  was  the  source  of  his  moral  wisdom  as  his 
brain  was  for  intellectual  acumen." 

In  an  address  at  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  October  27, 
1913,  on  "Character  and  Civilization,"  he  defines 
character  and  its  positive  elements. 

By  character  I  mean  the  sum  of  those  qualities  distinct 


'Leary,    Talks    With    T.  R.,  p.  68.      By   permission   of   Houghton   Mifflin 
Company. 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY      253 

from  purely  intellectual  qualities  which  are  essential  to 
moral  efficiency. 

Exactly  as  strength  comes  before  beauty,  so  character 
must  ever  stand  above  intellect,  above  genius. 

Honesty,  rigid  honesty,  is  a  root  virtue;  and  if  not  pres 
ent,  no  other  virtue  can  atone  for  its  lack.  But  we  cannot 
afford  to  be  satisfied  with  the  negative  virtue  of  not  being 
corrupt.  We  need  the  virile  positive  virtues. 

In  his  lecture  at  the  Sorbonne  in  Paris,  he  de 
clared:  "There  is  need  of  a  sound  body,  and  even 
more  of  a  sound  mind.  But  above  mind  and  above 
body  stands  character."  And  at  the  University  of 
Berlin,  he  reminded  them : 

Yet  the  Greek  civilization  itself  fell  because  this  many- 
sided  development  became  too  exclusively  one  of  intellect, 
at  the  expense  of  character,  at  the  expense  of  the  funda 
mental  qualities  which  fit  men  to  govern  both  themselves 
and  others  (European  and  African  Addresses,  p.  133). 

At  Harvard  in  his  lecture  on  "Applied  Ethics"  he 
said: 

No  man  has  gained  what  ought  to  be  gained  from  his 
college  career  unless  he  comes  out  of  college  with  a  finer 
and  higher  sense  of  his  obligations  and  duties  as  well  as 
with  a  trained  capacity  to  do  them  well. 

This  seems  to  answer  the  group  who  have  been 
telling  us  that  culture  will  save  the  world.  In  these 
three  great  and  diverse  universities  Mr.  Roosevelt 
denied  the  sufficiency  of  mental  training.  Character 
is  so  subtle  that  it  will  no  more  grow  sturdily  with 
out  light  from  God's  face  than  oaks  will  without 
sunshine. 


254  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  seemed  to  identify  the  traits  as  included  in 
a  Christian  life  when  he  described  the  requisites  for 
a  virile  worker  in  this  world  by  saying,  "that  kind 
of  work  can  be  done  only  by  the  man  who  is  neither 
a  weakling  nor  a  coward,  by  the  man  who  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word  is  a  true  Christian." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  had  a  distinct  and  clear-cut  creed. 
He  did  not  express  it  in  separated  and  classified 
statements;  most  of  it  was  in  deeds.  By  studying 
both  we  may  at  least  get  some  of  its  elements.  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott  well  said,  "A  creed  should  contain 
not  what  we  must  believe  but,  rather,  what  we  do 
believe.'7 

Only  the  short-sighted  and  shallow  set  themselves 
off  in  a  supposedly  independent  way  by  asserting 
that  they  do  not  believe  in,  and  have  no,  creed.  It 
was  a  "creed"  that  brought  the  Pilgrim  forefathers 
to  America  and  sustained  them  through  experiences 
which  would  otherwise  have  exterminated  them.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  Christian  creed, 
as  were  Lincoln's  affirmations  that  saved  the  Union. 
And  Theodore  Roosevelt  believed  in  and  enunciated 
a  creed  and  fought  for  it  till  death.  Let  us  search 
for  some  elements  of  it. 

In  The  Outlook  (December  2,  1911)  Mr.  Roosevelt 
commends  Alfred  Henry  Russell  for  taking  the 
position  in  his  book  The  World  of  Life  along  with 
"the  younger  present-day  scientific  investigators," 
which  shows  his  readiness  to  acknowledge  "that  the 
materialistic  and  mechanical  explanations  of  the 
causes  of  evolution  have  broken  down  and  that 
science  itself  furnishes  an  overwhelming  argument 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       255 

for  'creative  power,  directive  mind,  and  ultimate 
purpose'  in  the  process  of  evolution." 

That  test  can  only  be  met  by  a  "personal"  God  in 
whom  he  evidently  believed. 

William  Allen  White  wrote  me:  "Many  times 
Koosevelt  has  expressed  to  me  his  faith  in  the  moral 
government  of  the  universe  and  in  the  personality  of 
that  government  called  God." 

In  the  above  quoted  Outlook  article  he  seems  to 
clinch  the  accepted  view  of  God  when  in  referring  to 
the  dogmatic  iconoclasm  of  the  materialistic  scien 
tists  he  says : 

How  foolish  we  should  be  to  abandon  our  adherence  to 
the  old  ideals  of  duty  toward  God  and  man  without  better 
security  than  the  more  radical  among  the  new  prophets 
can  offer  us! 

He  was  greatly  offended  when  anyone  dared  to 
classify  the  Christian  as  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
other  religions  of  the  world,  for  he  considered  it  as 
the  only  true  religion.  And  so  in  reviewing  Kidd's 
Social  Evolution  he  objects  that  "Mr.  Kidd's  group 
ing  of  all  religions  together  is  offensive  to  every 
earnest  believer."  Continuing,  he  says: 

Throughout  his  book  he  treats  all  religious  beliefs  from 
the  same  standpoint,  as  if  they  were  all  substantially  simi 
lar  and  substantially  of  the  same  value;  whereas  it  is,  of 
course,  a  mere  truism  to  say  that  most  of  them  are  mutually 
destructive.  Not  only  has  he  no  idea  of  differentiating  the 
true  from  the  false,  but  he  seems  not  to  understand  that 
the  truth  of  a  particular  belief  is  of  any  moment. 

And  further  along  Mr.  Roosevelt  says : 


256  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

It  hardly  seems  necessary  to  point  out  that  this  cannot 
be  the  fact.  If  the  God  of  the  Christians  be  in  very  truth 
the  one  God,  and  if  the  belief  in  him  be  established,  as 
Christians  believe  it  will,  then  the  foundation  for  the 
religious  belief  in  Mumbo  Jumbo  can  be  neither  broad, 
deep,  nor  lasting. 

In  his  Outlook  article,  "The  Search  for  Truth  in 
a  Reverent  Spirit"  (Dec.  2,  1911),  he  said: 

When  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  of  works  is  taken  to 
mean  the  gospel  of  service  to  mankind  and  not  merely  the 
performance  of  a  barren  ceremonial,  it  must  command  the 
respect  and  I  hope  the  adherence  of  all  devout  men  of  every 
creed  and  even  those  who  adhere  to  no  creed  of  recognized 
orthodoxy. 

Continuing,  he  says : 

In  the  same  way  I  heartily  sympathize  with  his  [Thomas 
Dwight,  M.D.]  condemnation  of  the  men  who  stridently 
proclaim  that  "science  has  disposed  of  religion"  and  .  .  . 
who  would  try  to  teach  the  community  that  there  is  no 
real  meaning  to  the  words  "right"  and  "wrong,"  and  who 
therefore  deny  free  will  and  accountability. 

Again  he  describes  factors  in  it  when  he  says : 
"Whatever  form  of  creed  we  profess,  we  make  the 
doing  of  duty  and  the  love  of  our  fellow  men  two  of 
the  prime  articles  in  our  universal  faith." 

He  also  speaks  of  the  "dreary  creed"  of  the  ma 
terial  evolutionist,  which  gives  no  satisfaction  to 
man's  inner  self. 

Many  friends  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  he  constantly  referred  to  Micah  6.  8  as 
containing  his  creed.  Mr.  Leary  quotes  him  as  say 
ing  about  it : 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       257 

That  is  my  religion,  my  faith.  To  me  it  sums  up  all  re 
ligion,  it  is  all  the  creed  I  need.  It  seems  simple  and  easy, 
but  there  is  more  in  that  verse  than  in  the  involved  rituals 
and  confessions  of  faith  of  many  creeds  we  know. 

To  love  justice,  to  be  merciful,  to  appreciate  that  the 
great  mysteries  shall  not  be  known  to  us,  and  so  living, 
face  the  beyond  confident  and  without  fear — that  is  life.1 

Dr.  Lambert  said  that  he  frequently  included  the 
seventh  verse  in  his  quotation  and  emphasized  the 
futility  of  giving  athe  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin 
of  my  soul/7  and  the  Doctor  added,  "His  creed  was 
that  of  a  man  who  was  spiritually  ahead  of  his 
times." 

Jacob  A.  Kiis,  his  dearest  friend,  once  wrote: 

Though  he  is  at  few  public  professions,  yet  is  he  a 
reverent  man,  of  practice,  in  private  and  public,  ever  in 
accord  with  the  highest  ideals  of  Christian  manliness. 
His  is  a  militant  faith,  bound  on  the  mission  of  helping 
the  world  ahead;  and  in  that  campaign  he  welcomes  gladly 
whoever  would  help.  For  the  man  who  is  out  merely  to 
purchase  for  himself  a  seat  in  heaven,  whatever  befall  his 
brother,  he  has  nothing  but  contempt;  for  him  who  strug 
gles  painfully  toward  the  light,  a  helping  hand  and  word 
of  cheer  always.  With  forms  of  every  kind  he  has  a  toler 
ant  patience — for  what  they  mean.  For  the  mere  husk 
emptied  of  all  meaning,  he  has  little  regard. 

He  believed  that  doctrines  affected  actions  and  so 
he  rejoiced  that  even  in  Cromwell's  day  a  new  form 
of  doctrine  appeared  so  that  a  formal  agreement  with 
a  theological  "dogma"  was  supplanted  by  the  "now 
healthy  general  religious  belief  in  the  superior  im 
portance  of  conduct." 

1Leary,  Talks  with  T.  R.     By  permission  of  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 


258  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Miss  Josephine  L.  Baldwin,  an  expert  worker,  was 
asked  at  the  close  of  a  Sunday  school  institute  which 
she  had  conducted  at  Oyster  Bay  if  the  people  there 
could  do  her  a  favor  to  show  their  gratitude.  An 
inspiration  came  and  she  told  them  that  two  or 
three  years  before  she  had  selected  a  verse  for  a 
Junior  Department  motto  and  heard  afterward  that 
it  was  Mr.  Roosevelt's  favorite  verse.  She  suggested 
that  they  secure  his  photograph  with  his  signature 
and  that  verse  written  on  it.  In  a  few  days  it  came, 
and  is  now  framed  in  Saint  Paul's  Methodist  Church, 
Newark.  The  verse  was  "Be  ye  doers  of  the  word 
and  not  hearers  only."  Some  years  afterward  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  was  "receiving"  the  members  of  the 
Religious  Education  Association.  Miss  Baldwin  de 
cided  to  stop  the  line  long  enough  to  remind  him 
of  the  picture  and  his  signature  and  said  to  him, 
"That  verse  has  been  an  inspiration  to  our  boys  and 
girls."  His  face  lighted  with  real  pleasure  and  he 
said,  "I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  hear  it." 

He  wrote  a  challenge  to  America  in  1916  under 
the  title,  "Fear  God  and  Take  Your  Own  Part," 
which  contains  a  complete  and  exacting  creed.  In 
it  he  said : 

Fear  God  and  take  your  own  part.  Fear  God,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word,  means  love  God,  respect  God,  honor 
God,  and  all  of  this  can  only  be  done  by  loving  our  neigh 
bor,  treating  him  justly  and  mercifully  and  in  all  ways  en 
deavoring  to  protect  him  from  injustice  and  cruelty,  thus 
obeying,  as  far  as  our  human  frailty  will  permit,  the  great 
and  immutable  law  of  righteousness.  .  .  .  We  must  apply 
this  same  standard  of  conduct  alike  to  man  and  to  woman, 
to  rich  man  and  to  poor  man,  to  employer  and  employee. 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       259 

Some  time  before  his  death  Mr.  Kiis  told  the  writer 
that  Mr.  Roosevelt  believed  in  the  unique  divinity  of 
Jesus  and  in  all  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
church. 

While  it  is  probable  that  he  never  discussed  nor 
sought  to  understand  the  mystery  of  Christ's  di 
vinity,  yet  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  denied  it  and 
much  to  conclude  that  he  accepted  it.  He  had  a  pro 
found  and  unquestioning  reverence  for  and  confi 
dence  in  Christ's  life  and  teaching. 

Sir  Robert  Perks,  a  distinguished  British  layman, 
once  called  upon  President  Roosevelt  and  with  great 
courtesy  informed  him  that  he  came  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  four  million  Methodists  in  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  India,  Africa,  and  the  Isles  of  the  Sea. 
The  President  after  welcoming  him  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  "the  great  church  which  sent  you"  and 
the  "homeland"  (England),  concluded: 

And  I  want  to  say  that  neither  your  country  nor  mine 
can  be  powerful,  permanent,  and  progressive,  unless  it 
build  upon  the  elements  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ; 
that  teaching  that  is  independent  of  political  distinctions  or 
theological  controversy  (The  Christian  Advocate,  New 
York). 

Mr.  Roosevelt  in  his  writings  traces  the  courage 
and  capability  of  Daniel  Boone,  one  of  his  rare  he 
roes,  well  deserving  of  high  place  and  constant  praise, 
to  his  sturdy  Christian  creed : 

Boone's  creed  in  matters  of  morality  and  religion  was 
as  simple  and  straightforward  as  his  own  character.  Late 
in  life  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  kinsfolk:  "All  the  religion  I 


260  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

have  is  to  love  and  fear  God,  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  do  all 
the  good  to  my  neighbors  and  myself  that  I  can,  and  do 
as  little  harm  as  I  can  help,  and  trust  on  God's  mercy  for 
the  rest."  The  old  pioneer  always  kept  the  respect  of  red 
man  and  white,  of  friend  and  foe,  for  he  acted  according 
to  his  belief  (Winning  of  the  West,  p.  151). 

There  is  here  no  question  concerning  the  personality 
of  God  or  the  divinity  of  Christ. 

He  had  a  very  clear  conception  of  some  important 
qualities  in  a  Christian.  He  warned  against  a  cal 
lous  and  apathetic  moral  nature : 

It  is  a  very  bad  thing  to  be  morally  callous,  for  moral 
callousness  is  a  disease.  .  .  .  The  religious  man  who  is  use 
ful  is  not  he  whose  sole  care  is  to  save  his  soul,  but  the 
man  whose  religion  bids  him  strive  to  advance  decency  and 
clean  living  and  to  make  the  world  a  better  place  for  his 
fellows  to  live  in  (Theodore  Roosevelt  as  an  Undergradu 
ate,  Wilhelm,  p.  88). 

In  his  review  of  Benjamin  Kidd's  Social  Evolution 
he  displays  an  unusual  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  of 
Christian  doctrine.  In  that  he  clearly  and  rightly 
condemns  the  so-called  Christian  who  isolates  his 
life  instead  of  making  it  a  leaven  to  work  uplift 
among  the  people: 

All  religions,  and  all  forms  of  religion,  in  which  the 
principle  of  asceticism  receives  any  marked  development, 
are  positively  antagonistic  to  the  development  of  the  social 
organism  (American  Ideals,  p.  320f.). 

He  emphasizes  the  fact  that  asceticism  destroys 
sane  and  healthy  religion : 
The  same  is  equally  true  of  many  of  the  more  ascetic 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       261 

developments  of  Christianity  and  Islam.  There  is  strong 
probability  that  there  was  a  Celtic  population  in  Iceland 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Norsemen,  but  these  Celts  be 
longed  to  the  Culdee  sect  of  Christians.  They  were  an 
chorites  and  professed  a  creed  which  completely  subor 
dinated  the  development  of  the  race  on  this  earth  to  the 
well-being  of  the  individual  in  the  next.  In  consequence 
they  died  out  and  left  no  successors. 

In  discussing  the  ability  a  people  may  possess  for 
self-government  he  insisted  that  it  was  not  a  "God- 
given,  natural  right"  but  that  it  only  came  through 
the  "slow  growth  of  centuries/7  and  then  only  to 
races  "which  possess  an  immense  reserve  fund  of 
strength,  common  sense,  and  morality." 

In  an  address  before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  the  night  be 
fore  he  retired  as  Governor  he  described  very  mi 
nutely  and  reliably  the  traits  of  a  "Christian" : 

The  true  Christian  is  the  true  citizen,  lofty  of  purpose, 
resolute  in  endeavor,  ready  for  a  hero's  deeds,  but  never 
looking  down  on  his  task  because  it  is  cast  in  the  day  of 
small  things;  scornful  of  baseness,  awake  to  his  own  duties 
as  well  as  to  his  rights,  following  the  higher  law  with 
reverence,  and  in  this  world  doing  all  that  in  him  lies,  so 
that  when  death  comes  he  may  feel  that  mankind  is  in 
some  degree  better  because  he  has  lived. 

In  an  address  March  16,  1910,  to  the  American 
Mission  at  Khartum,  which  is  under  the  auspices  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  he  urged  the  na 
tive  and  other  Christians  to  exemplify  their  doc 
trines  in  everyday  living  in  a  notable  way : 

Let  it  be  a  matter  of  pride  with  the  Christian  in  the  army 
that  in  time  of  danger  no  man  is  nearer  that  danger  than 


262  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

he  is.  Let  it  be  a  matter  of  pride  to  the  officer  whose  duty 
it  is  to  fight  that  no  man,  when  the  country  calls  on  him 
to  fight,  fights  better  than  he  does.  Let  the  man  in  a  civil 
governmental  position  so  bear  himself  that  it  shall  be  ac 
ceptable  as  axiomatic  that  when  you  have  a  Christian,  a 
graduate  of  the  missionary  school  in  public  office,  the  ef 
ficiency  and  honesty  of  that  office  are  guaranteed. 

The  kind  of  graduate  of  a  Christian  school  really  worth 
calling  a  Christian  is  the  man  who  shows  his  creed  prac 
tically  by  the  way  he  behaves  toward  his  wife  and  toward 
his  children,  toward  his  neighbor,  toward  those  with  whom 
he  deals  in  the  business  world,  and  toward  the  city  and 
government  (European  and  African  Addresses,  p.  7). 

While  President  (September  8,  1906)  he  delivered 
an  address  at  the  Episcopal  church  in  Oyster  Bay, 
where  he  attended  regularly.  He  exhorted  his  fellow 
Christians  to  exhibit  a  helpful  home  life,  an  upright 
business  career,  and  a  worthy  stewardship  in  the 
use  of  wealth. 

The  man  is  not  a  good  Christian  if  his  domestic  conduct 
is  such  that  when  he  returns  to  his  home,  his  wife  and  his 
children  feel  a  sense  of  uneasiness  at  his  having  come. 
The  man  is  not  a  good  Christian  who  in  his  business  deal 
ings  fails  to  remember  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  him  to 
hold  a  higher  standard  than  his  fellows,  that  it  is  incumbent 
upon  him,  if  he  is  a  very  rich  man,  to  make  it  evident  alike 
in  the  way  he  earns  and  the  way  he  spends  his  fortune, 
that  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  to  him  a  living  truth  and  not 
a  dead  doctrine.  And,  of  course,  what  I  say  applies  even 
more  strongly  to  the  man  in  public  life. 

He  then  urges  both  minister  and  people,  including 
himself  as  a  Christian,  to  embody  the  truths  learned 
from  the  Bible  and  church  fellowship : 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       263 

Each  of  us,  layman  and  clergyman  alike,  must  strive  in 
our  actual  conduct  day  by  day  with  the  people  among  whom 
we  live,  to  make  them  understand  that  what  we  expect 
from  Christian  folk,  if  they  are  sincere  in  their  devotion 
to  Christianity,  is  the  highest  standard  of  conduct,  is  the 
actual  carrying  out  in  practical  life  of  what  they  profess 
to  receive  in  church  from  the  Bible  and  from  their  asso 
ciations  with  their  fellow  members  of  whatever  creed. 

He  believed  in  a  God-ordered  world. 

He  uncovered  his  religious  life  more  before  the 
practiced  eyes  of  Lyman  Abbott  than  before  any 
other  man.  Dr.  Abbott  wrote  me : 

Of  his  attitude  toward  God  I  cannot  speak  from  any  words 
he  ever  said  to  me  on  that  subject,  but  he  always  produced 
the  impression  by  his  spirit  that  his  faith  in  himself  was 
founded  on  his  faith  that  he  was  an  instrument  of  a  higher 
Power  and  was  carrying  out  in  his  life  his  part  of  a 
greater  plan  than  his  own. 

Mr.  Stoddard  affirmed  the  correctness  of  this  im 
pression  : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  had  a  keen  sense  of  a  God-ordered  life. 
When  he  had  a  deep  and  fixed  conviction  he  and  no  one 
else  around  him  questioned  its  source.  His  faith  in  God  also 
gave  him  an  assurance  that  right  would  ultimately  con 
quer. 

When  President  Roosevelt  addressed  the  Method 
ist  General  Conference  on  their  visit  to  Washington 
he  suggested  that  Luther's  battle  hymn,  "Ein'  Feste 
Burg,'7  be  sung.  The  delegates  from  Germany  and 
others  who  spoke  German  came  forward  to  form  a 
chorus  to  sing  it  in  that  language.  Mr.  Roosevelt 


264  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

came  down  from  the  platform  and  sang  the  whole 
hymn  with  them  in  German  and  from  memory. 
Think  of  such  words  as : 

"A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 

A  bulwark  never  failing. 
Our  helper  he  amid  the  flood 

Of  mortal  ills  prevailing; 
For  still  our  ancient  foe 
Doth  seek  to  work  us  woe; 
His  craft  and  power  are  great 
And,  armed  with  cruel  hate, 

On  earth  is  not  his  equal." 

And 

"Did  we  in  our  own  strength  confide, 
Our  striving  would  be  losing." 

And 

"We  will  not  fear,  for  God  hath  willed 
His  truth  to  triumph  through  us." 

Dr.  Iglehart  reported  an  interview  with  Mr.  Roose 
velt  in  The  Christian  Advocate  as  having  occurred 
after  the  Great  War.  After  recalling  a  previous 
statement  that  (he  believed  "God  had  called"  him 
at  that  time  "to  fight  the  corruption  of  wealth  and 
the  evil  customs  in  public  offices,"  he  concludes : 

But  I  thank  him  most  for  sparing  me  to  take  a  part  in 
the  settlement  of  the  great  World  War.  No  Hebrew  prophet 
was  ever  called  upon  to  cry  out  against  the  danger  con 
fronting  his  nation  or  the  moral  evils  that  curse  the  world 
more  truly  than  I  have  been  called  upon  to  plead  for  an 
ideal  Americanism. 

He  had  little  sympathy  with  the  "rationalistic" 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       265 

scientists  who  would  destroy  religion  and  the  spirit 
ual  laws  which  have  so  splendidly  brought  the  world 
forward.  In  The  Outlook,  in  reviewing  the  Origin 
of  and  Evolution  of  Life,  by  H.  F.  Osborne  (January 
16,  1918),  he  decries  a  destructive  and  ill-founded 
doctrine  proposed  by  some  evolutionists  which  is 

accepted  by  certain  skeptical  materialists  as  overthrow 
ing  spiritual  laws  with  which  they  had  no  more  to  do  than 
the  discovery  of  steam  power  has  to  do  with  altruism. 
There  are  just  as  mischievous  dogmatists  among  the  twen 
tieth-century  scientists  as  ever  there  were  among  mediaeval 
theologians. 

As  an  example  of  such  dogmatism  he  says : 

A  British  scientist  and  Socialist  blatantly  insisted  that 
habitual  drunkenness  in  the  father  had  no  effect  on  the 
children.  Immediately  afterward  experiments  on  guinea 
pigs  showed  that  alcoholism  in  the  parent  induced  physical 
degeneracy  in  the  offspring. 

He  reassured  those  who  feared  that  science  might 
injure  religion. 

The  claims  of  certain  so-called  scientific  men  as  to  science 
overthrowing  religion  are  as  baseless  as  the  fears  of  cer 
tain  sincerely  religious  men  on  the  same  subject. 

He  has  no  sympathy  with  the  idler  who  assails  re 
ligion  in  a  superior  way  as  outgrown.  He  pointed 
out  to  the  French  at  the  Sorbonne,  who  at  their  best 
gave  scant  attention  to  religion,  the  danger  of  being 
cynical : 

Let  the  man  of  learning,  the  man  of  lettered  leisure,  be 
ware  of  that  queer  and  cheap  temptation  to  pose  to  himself 


2G6  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

and  to  others  as  the  cynic,  as  the  man  who  has  outgrown 
emotions  and  beliefs,  the  man  to  whom  good  and  evil  are 
as  one.  The  poorest  way  to  face  life  is  to  face  it  with  a 
sneer  (European  and  African  Addresses,  p.  37). 

He  spoke  almost  as  a  prophet  in  Germany,  then 
dominated  by  mechanical  theology,  while  lecturing 
at  the  University  of  Berlin  in  emphasizing  the 
world's  need  of  religion : 

We  can  well  do  without  the  hard  intolerance  and  arid 
intellectual  barrenness  of  what  was  worst  in  the  theological 
systems  of  the  past,  but  there  has  never  been  greater  need 
of  a  high  and  fine  religious  spirit  than  at  the  present  time 
(European  and  African  Addresses,  p.  136). 

He  urged  continual  progress  toward  better  things, 
but  he  wanted  also  to  guard  against  the  discourage 
ment  of  reaching  full  success  when  he  said:  "Of 
course  when  I  say  'realizable'  I  do  not  mean  that 
we  can  completely  realize  any  ideal.  Something 
better  is  always  ahead." 

He  believed  in  zeal  for  the  right.  Mrs.  Robinson 
emphasized  -his  enthusiastic  obedience  to  duty : 

My  brother  never  allowed  anything  to  interfere  with  his 
religious  duties.  He  always  said,  "Take  all  the  joy  near 
you  but  put  duty  first,  and  the  outcome  will  be  satisfac 
tory."  He  believed  in  putting  as  much  earnestness  and 
enthusiasm  into  duty  as  into  pleasure. 

At  the  Sorbonne  he  urged  a  sturdy  righteousness : 
"The  man  who  is  saved  by  weakness  from  robust 
wickedness  is  likewise  rendered  immune  from  the 
robuster  virtues.  It  takes  ability  and  diligence  to 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       2G7 

be  either  a  notably  wicked  or  good  man."  In  com 
menting  on  the  Chicago  Convention  he  enforced  the 
need  of  a  stiff  purpose :  "A  man  who  means  well  but 
who  only  means  well  feebly  rarely  stands  the  strain 
of  serious  temptation."  He  believed  that  goodness 
brought  a  man  to  higher  efficiency.  "The  man  who 
carries  Christianity  into  his  everyday  work  stands 
a  better  chance  of  making  a  success  of  life  than  one 
who  does  not."  He  further  enforced  the  added  ef 
ficiency  which  right-doing  brought  when  he  referred 
to  his  experiences  as  police  commissioner,  where  he 
insisted  that  "efficiency"  among  the  policemen  in 
creased  with  their  "honesty."  He  explained  that  the 
conviction  of  criminals  grew  and  the  number  of 
crimes  where  the  criminal  succeeded  in  escaping 
diminished.  He  was  convinced  that  dishonesty  al 
ways  clouded  the  brain  and  clogged  native  gifts. 
In  a  letter  to  Lawrence  Abbott  he  says : 

Mr.  Kennan  quotes  Tolstoy's  words  as  proofs  of  re 
pentance.  Repentance  must  be  shown  by  deeds,  not  words. 
One  lapse  is  quite  pardonable;  but  persistence  in  doing  one 
thing  while  preaching  another  is  not  pardonable.  It  seems 
to  me  that  Tolstoy  is  one  of  those  men,  by  no  means  un 
common,  of  perverted  moral  type  who  at  bottom  consider 
the  luxury  of  frantic  repentance — and  the  luxury  of  pro 
fessing  adherence  to  an  impossible  and  undesirable  ideal — 
as  full  atonement  for  and  as  really  permitting,  persistence 
in  a  line  of  conduct  which  gives  the  lie  to  their  profes 
sions  (Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  p.  190). 

Dr.  Lambert  told  me  about  a  time  when  Mr.  Roose 
velt  asked  him  why  he  stirred  up  so  much  "antag 
onism"  : 


2G8  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Colonel  Roosevelt  spent  two  weeks  at  my  camp  in  1915 
and  discussed  many  moral  problems.  One  day  he  said, 
"Why  is  it  that  I  arouse  so  much  animosity?"  I  answered: 
"You  always  look  upon  sin  as  the  product  of  a  personal  act 
of  the  sinner.  You  specialize  until  the  guilty  must  recog 
nize  their  own  guilt,  and  that  aggravates  them.  You  be 
lieve  in  smashing  the  sinner.  Most  preachers  generalize, 
hoping  someone  will  be  hit.  Your  direct  method  gets  re 
sults  but  it  is  not  popular."  He  thought  a  moment,  then 
said,  "I  guess  you  are  right.'' 

He  always  believed  in  possible  reformation  and 
gave  every  sincerely  repentant  man  a  chance  to  show 
that  he  was  worthy  of  being  trusted,  as  he  did  in  the 
case  of  an  ex-convict  who  served  as  a  Rough  Rider 
and  of  whom  Mr.  Roosevelt  averred  that  he  "had 
atoned  for  it  (the  criminal  offense)  by  many  years 
of  fine  performance  of  duty."  President  Roosevelt 
put  him  in  a  responsible  official  position  where  he 
rendered  such  excellent  service  that  he  testified 
there  was  no  one  who  "as  a  citizen  and  as  a  friend 
I  valued  and  respected"  more. 

He  always  faced  the  consideration  of  death  calmly. 

He  would  live  so  that  loved  survivors  may  "think 
well  of  us  when  we  are  gone"  and  get  the  pleasure  of 
such  thoughts.  He  admits  that  he  cannot  explain 
why  he  wants  to  feel  that  "one  had  lived  manfully 
and  honorably,"  yet  he  is  sure  such  an  ambition  is 
an  ennobling  one.  It  will  be  gratifying  "to  know 
that  on  the  whole  one's  duties  have  not  been  shirked, 
and  there  has  been  no  flinching  from  foes,  no  lack  ot 
gentleness  and  loyalty  to  friends,"  and  that  at  least 
fair  success  has  rewarded  one's  sincere  efforts  at  his 
life  task. 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       269 

In  a  letter  to  Supreme  Court  Justice  Oliver  Wen 
dell  Holmes  he  discusses  the  satisfaction  of  coming 
to  life's  close  with  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent 
life. 

In  an  Outlook  article  criticizing  the  dogmatic 
scientists  he  affirms  a  belief  in  the  supernatural: 
"They  also  understand  that  outside  of  the  purely 
physical  lies  the  psychic,  and  that  the  realm  of  re 
ligion  stands  outside  even  of  the  purely  psychic." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  try  to  explain  away  that 
strange  change  depicted,  as  he  says,  in  Begbie's 
Twice  Born  Men  and  constantly  exhibited  in  the 
work  of  the  Salvation  Army.  He  recognizes  what 
the  Army,  as  well  as  other  evangelical  denomina 
tions,  call  conversion  as  an  incontrovertible  fact. 
In  an  editorial  in  The  Outlook  (July,  1911)  he 
wrote : 

No  history  of  the  twentieth  century  will  be  complete 
which  does  not  deal  with  the  work  of  the  Salvation  Army. 
One  very  interesting  feature  brought  out  by  Mr.  Haggard 
incidentally  is  that,  in  a  sense  which  is  more  literal  than 
figurative,  the  work  of  regeneration  often  means  such  a 
complete  change  in  a  man's  nature  as  is  equivalent  to  the 
casting  out  of  devils. 

He  also  refers  to  Twice  Born  Men,  by  Harold  Beg- 
bie,  which  is  a  collection  of  stories  about  men  "con 
verted"  through  the  medium  of  the  Salvation  Army, 
as  describing  instances  which  "can  literally  be 
called  the  'rebirth.'  " 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  an  earnest  student  of  the  Bible, 
as  shown  in  another  chapter.  He  knew  how  to  use 
it  aptly,  as  seen  in  his  Egyptian  address,  when  he 


270  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

said :  "It  is  for  us  of  the  New  World  to  sit  at  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel  of  the  Old,  then,  if  we  have  right 
stuff  in  us,  we  can  show  that  Paul  in  his  turn  can 
become  a  teacher  as  well  as  a  scholar." 

Or  he  can  give  a  pungent  exegesis  of  a  verse,  as 
in  the  article  '"Character  and  Success,"  in  The  Out 
look  (March  31,  1900)  : 

He  must  refrain  from  whatever  is  evil.  But  besides  re 
fraining  from  evil  he  must  do  good— the  Bible  always  in 
culcates  the  need  of  the  positive  no  less  than  the  negative 
virtues.  ...  We  are  bidden  not  only  to  be  harmless  as 
doves,  but  also  as  wise  as  serpents.  ...  If  with  the  best 
of  intentions  we  can  only  manage  to  deserve  the  epithet  of 
"harmless,"  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  have  lived  in  the 
world  at  all. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  find  witnesses  to  the  fact  that 
he  regularly  practiced  the  custom  of  formal  prayer. 
When  we  find  conclusive  evidences  of  family  affection 
it  is  not  necessary  to  show  that  there  are  times  of 
sacred  communion  in  that  home.  It  is  taken  for 
granted.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  however,  did  his  praying  in 
the  closet,  since  he  employed  it  to  get  power  and  not 
to  be  "seen  of  men,"  and  there  are  countless  incidents 
only  explainable  by  the  presence  of  that  "power." 
After  careful  research  I  am  convinced  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  prayed  in  the  modern  way,  not  to  present 
a  detailed  list  of  needs  but  to  be  sure  communica 
tions  were  open  so  that  he  could  get  his  directions 
from  God  and  receive  the  heartening  "Well  done" 
from  his  heavenly  Father. 

In  Cromwell's  life,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  after  condemn 
ing  the  old  method  of  forcing  everyone  to  accept  an 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       271 

edict  or  law  of  the  government  as  infallible  interpre 
tation  of  the  will  of  God,  cordially  approves  a  com 
mon  "search"  of  the  people  as  a  surer  method  of  find 
ing  that  will.  He  asserts  that  it  is  commendable  for 
men  to  "come  together  to  search  after  truth ;  to  try 
to  find  the  true  will  of  God."  He  so  frequently 
speaks  of  a  guiding  "light"  that  it  must  be  concluded 
that  it  came  as  direction  from  above.  This  seems 
evident  in  his  reference  as  he  closes  an  article  on 
"National  Life  and  Character" : 

Be  this  as  it  may,  we  gladly  agree  that  the  one  plain 
duty  of  every  man  is  to  face  the  future  as  he  faces  the 
present,  regardless  of  what  it  may  have  in  store  for  him, 
and  turning  toward  the  light  as  he  sees  the  light,  to  play 
his  part  manfully,  as  a  man  among  men  (American  Ideals, 
p.  302). 

Mr.  Loeb,  who  has  attended  church  in  many  dif 
ferent  places  with  Mr.  Roosevelt,  said :  "He  always 
went  through  all  of  the  ritual,  which  included  the 
reading  of  prayers." 

Dean  Lewis  said  in  answer  to  a  query : 

If  you  mean  did  he  join  in  the  prayers  when  at  a  re 
ligious  service,  or  at  a  public  service  when  the  exercises 
partook  of  a  religious  character,  or  did  he  join  in  repeating 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  or  other  formal  prayer,  my  answer  is 
"Yes." 

These  prayers  were  not  an  empty  ceremonial,  for 
as  Mrs.  Robinson  said : 

My  brother  would  never  go  through  the  mere  form  of 
prayer  simply  because  it  was  a  custom.  He  would  do  it 
only  because  he  believed  it  brought  him  some  benefit.  His 


272  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

custom  of  repeating  the  prayer  in  a  church  service  must, 
therefore,  have  expressed  his  high  valuation  of  prayer. 

Mrs.  Robinson  further  felt  sure  that  her  brother 
continued  his  custom  of  saying  the  prayer  taught 
him  at  home  at  least  until  after  he  had  completed 
his  college  course.  And  she  added,  "There  is  no 
information  to  show  that  he  ever  ceased  the  custom." 
Many  men  of  large  gifts  continue  to  repeat  the 
prayer  taught  them  in  childhood.  Dr.  Talmage,  his 
pastor  at  Oyster  Bay,  assured  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
rested  much  confidence  in  prayer  and  followed  the 
habit  of  personally  offering  petitions  to  God.  In 
another  place  in  this  book  an  incident  is  recounted 
where  he  was  found  kneeling  on  the  grave  of  William 
McKinley. 

In  The  Outlook  article  already  mentioned  he 
quotes  with  approval  the  contention  that  "outside 
of  materialism  lie  the  forces  of  a  wholly  different 
world,  a  world  ordered  by  religion,  .  .  .  which  must, 
if  loyal  to  itself,  work  according  to  its  own  nature 
as  a  spiritual  activity,  striving  to  transform  men 
from  within,  and  not  from  without,  by  persuasion, 
by  example,  by  prayer,"  etc.  Evidently,  he  here  gives 
prayer  a  place  as  a  medium  of  development. 

The  Micah  passage  has  a  clause  "walk  humbly 
with  thy  God,"  and  Dr.  Lambert  easily  agreed: 
"Mr.  Roosevelt  doubtless  saw  in  this  an  approval 
of  a  prayer  that  gave  fellowship  with  God.  His 
early  training  and  habit  would  lead  him  to  that. 
Such  habits  are  not  easily  laid  aside." 

He  was  accustomed  to  write  such  expressions  as 


A  CHRISTIAN?    HIS  OWN  TESTIMONY       273 

"For  all  my  children  I  pray,"  etc.  Dr.  Iglehart  was 
talking  with  him  about  his  four  sons  in  the  war  zone 
and  added: 

We  know  that  the  boys  will  do  brave  fighting  and  we 
will  hope  and  pray  that  God  will  send  them  back  to  you. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  answer  asserted  a  habit  of  prayer: 

It  is  my  constant  prayer  to  God  that  in  his  mercy  he 
will  spare  them.  ...  It  is  not  likely  that  all  will  come  back 
from  such  a  deadly  war,  but  we  will  have  to  leave  them  in 
the  hands  of  a  good  God  who  doeth  all  things  well  (Iglehart, 
p.  275). 

Mr.  Leary  also  quotes  him  as  saying :  "I  pray  God 
will  send  them  [his  sons]  back  to  me  safe  and 
sound"  (p.  240). 

Gifford  Pinchot  agreed  that  "Mr.  Roosevelt  would 
never  say  'I  pray'  unless  he  meant  that  he  actually 
did  so."  None  who  have  measured  his  sincerity  and 
his  reverential  use  of  sacred  words  would  accredit 
him  with  saying  "I  pray"  as  a  mere  form  of  speech. 
He  doubtless  referred  to  his  habitual  custom  in  a 
perfectly  natural  way. 

He  regularly  took  "communion"  (observed  the 
Lord's  supper)  which  is  always  recognized  as  the 
most  intimate  form  of  prayer. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  lived  the  glad-free  life  of  a  conscious 
son  of  God.  All  who  are  fathers  would  say,  "Well 
done"  to  such  a  son  as  Theodore  Roosevelt — and  our 
God  is  a  Father. 

An  editorial  in  a  small  Kansas  town  paper  epito 
mizes  his  life  well : 


274  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"Put  out  the  light,  please."  These  were  the  last  words  he 
said  on  whom  now  light  eternal  shines.  .  .  .  When  it 
seemed  the  time  was  ripe  to  serve  his  country  best,  now 
he  rests.  His  work  on  earth  was  done,  else  he  had  stayed 
to  finish  it.  No  life  goes  hack  to  its  Maker  incomplete, 
though  our  earthly  eyes  not  always  read  the  story  to  its 
end.  The  end  for  him  is  but  the  beginning  of  a  sure  presage 
of  immortality.  Such  souls  were  never  made  to  be  de 
stroyed,  but  to  go  on  and  on  to  wider  fields  and  newer 
achievements,  fitted  to  the  powers  which  here  on  earth  were 
as  a  sacred  trust-  held  blameless,  stainless,  and  inviolate 
(The  Liberal  News,  Kansas). 


CHAPTER  XIII 
A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND 

"A  man  who  is  to  live  a  clean  and  honorable  life  must 
inevitably  suffer  if  his  speech  likewise  is  not  clean  and 
honorable." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Set  the  believers  an  example  of  speech,  behavior,  love, 
faith  and  purity.— 1  Tim.  4.  12  (Moffatt's  translation). 

''W"  TIS  strength  was  as  the  strength  of  ten,  be 
cause  his  heart  was  pure."  Thus  wrote  the 

A  •*•  poet  of  Sir  Galahad,  who  sought  the  Holy 
Grail.  The  world's  conception  of  such  purity  puts 
it  only  in  the  realm  of  poetry  and  fiction.  Sir  Gala 
had  first  heard  of  the  Holy  Grail  through  the  vision 
of  a  nun,  and  she  girded  him  for  the  journey  with  a 
girdle  made  from  her  beautiful  hair.  Mankind  has 
always  looked  upon  such  a  knight  as  incarnating  an 
ideal  unattainable  on  the  hard  battlefield  of  every 
day  life,  and  therefore  only  a  mythical  character. 
The  red  blood  of  courage  is  too  often  wrongly  ex 
cused  if  it  runs  into  excesses.  When,  however,  men 
have  pure  hearts  their  strength  is  multiplied.  If 
successful  while  impure,  they  would  have  increased 
their  success  many  times  if  pure;  it  is  written  in  the 
law  of  life. 

The  writer  has  asked  very  many  men  who  knew 
Mr.  Roosevelt  the  question,  "How  did  you  know  that 

275 


276  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a  Christian  ?"  Very  many  imme 
diately  replied  practically  as  follows :  "Because  he 
was  so  clean  of  mind  and  tongue.  I  never  heard  him 
tell  an  off-color  story,  nor  would  he  listen  to  one. 
Even  profanity  would  slip  out  of  conversation  in 
his  presence.  Men  felt  the  loftiness  of  his  spirit.  He 
was  not  prudish  or  artificially  Puritanical,  but 
purity  fitted  him  so  naturally  as  to  be  unnoticed  as 
a  distinct  trait." 

It  is  now  less  common  to  ignore  immorality  in  men 
than  in  former  days.  Medical  science  has  demon 
strated  the  authority  of  God's  law  by  exhibiting  the 
inexorable  results  of  transgressions  in  this  field. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  was  far  ahead  of  his  day  in  opposing 
immoral  practices  which  were  then  supposed  to  be 
excusable  among  strong  men.  He  was  so  fearless 
and  sturdy  that  no  one  dared  to  question  his  genuine 
masculinity.  He  could  use  his  fists  or  a  gun.  He 
could  face  unflinchingly  any  issue,  group,  or  indi 
vidual  and  stand  alone  when  necessary.  At  the  same 
time  he  was  not  a  recluse  or  an  ascetic  but  added  to 
the  fun  of  every  crowd  and  was  at  home  anywhere. 

While  he  was  a  virile,  vigorous  man  of  force  and 
fire,  yet  he  had  such  a  sense  of  reverence  and  control 
of  himself  that  he  did  not  use  profanity.  When 
General  Leonard  Wood  was  once  told  that  Mr.  Roose 
velt  was  a  swearing  man  he  said  that  such  a  report 
was  preposterous  and  added  that  when  Theodore 
"gets  mad  enough  to  swear  he  cannot  do  so  because 
immediately  he  begins  to  stutter."  His  very  tongue 
was  prepared  against  it.  In  the  same  strain,  Julian 
Street  says  about  his  "strong"  words : 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND    277 

Though  his  language  is  forcible,  it  is  never  "strong"  in 
the  usual  sense  of  that  word  as  applied  to  language.  .  .  . 
He  is  himself  what  he  called  Admiral  Mahan,  "a  Christian 
gentleman,"  but,  as  Disraeli  wrote  of  someone,  "his  Chris 
tianity  is  muscular." 

I  talked  to  him  on  many  subjects  which  had  he  been 
a  profane  man  would  have  elicited  profanity,  but  he  was 
not  betrayed.  .  .  . 

Quite  the  most  awful  word  I  have  ever  heard  him  apply 
to  any  man  was  the  word  "Skunk-k-k,"  applied  by  him  in 
a  moment  of  great  irritation.  .  .  . 

He  doesn't  need  to  swear,  because  he  can  say  "Pacifist" 
or  the  name  of  some  condemned  individual  in  tones  which 
must  make  the  recording  angel  shudder.  But  the  only 
Roosevelt  "dam"  is  the  one  they  named  for  him  in  Arizona. 

Herman  Kohlsaat  in  a  series  of  "Reminiscences" 
credited  Mr.  Roosevelt  with  saying,  "He  is  a  damn 
fine  fellow."  Mark  Sullivan,  the  well-known 
"writer,"  immediately  challenged  the  statement  and 
declared  that  from  a  wide  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Roosevelt  he  could  positively  affirm  that 
the  "Colonel"  never  used  the  word  "damn."  He  then 
quotes  a  long  list  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  friends  who 
agree  with  him  that  they  never  heard  him  use  that 
word. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  convince  the  ordinary  Amer 
ican  that  the  vigorous  Roosevelt  did  not  swear.  Many 
men  insist  that  only  mollycoddles  refrain.  I  asked 
twenty  or  twenty-five  men  the  question,  "Did  you 
ever  hear  Mr.  Roosevelt  take  the  name  of  God  in 
vain?"  With  only  one  exception  (and  that  with  a 
single  newspaper  correspondent  who  reports  one 
break-over  during  the  war)  men  who  have  fought  by 
his  side,  traveled  with  him  on  campaigns,  fellow- 


278  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

shiped  in  recreation,  and  lived  in  his  home,  insist 
that  they  never  heard  him  use  God's  name  in  pro 
fanity.  Some  of  them  are  here  reported. 

Dr.  Lambert,  his  physician,  who  was  usually  his 
hunting  comrade  and  warm  associate,  said  to  me : 

I  never  even  heard  him  explode  in  anger  with  expletives, 
much  less  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  He  would  shut 
others  off  who  while  mad  would  begin  to  scold.  He  would 
send  them  away  until  they  cooled  off.  I  remember  that 
even  "Hellroaring  Bill,"  who  punctuated  every  few  words 
with  an  oath,  for  some  reason  almost  completely  ceased 
when  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  presence,  although  he  never  said 
a  word  to  him  about  it. 

Mr.  Payne,  a  newspaper  correspondent,  who  traveled 
much  with  him,  affirmed: 

He  never  used  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  In  fact,  I  never 
heard  him  even  use  slang  as  an  anger  explosive.  When  at 
rare  intervals  he  said  "damn"  it  was  employed  to  express 
discipline  rather  than  as  a  vituperative. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg,  one  of  his  closest  advisers, 
told  me : 

I  never  heard  him  take  God's  name  In  vain.  He  never 
lost  control  of  his  temper,  though  at  times  he  could  whip 
out  cutting  words.  Very  few  men  swore  in  his  presence. 
Something  seemed  to  restrain  them. 

In  a  libel  suit  in  Michigan  many  witnesses  testi 
fied  that  he  was  not  a  profane  man.  W.  Emlen 
Roosevelt,  first  cousin  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  lived 
next  door  to  him  in  New  York  and  in  Oyster  Bay 
and  was  with  him  as  playmate  and  intimate  friend 
until  his  death,  was  asked  at  that  time: 

Q.     I  ask  you  from  your  knowledge  what  can  you  say 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND    279 

as  to  the  habits  of  the  plaintiff  as  to  profanity?    A.    I  can 
say  that  he  has  one  of  the  cleanest  mouths — 
Q.    Does  he  indulge  in  it  or  not?    A.    He  does  not. 

At  the  same  trial,  Gifford  Pinchot  when  asked  if 
he  had  ever  heard  Mr.  Roosevelt  indulge  in  pro 
fanity  or  obscenity,  replied :  "I  have  not." 

Mr.  Dulany  traveled  and  lived  with  Mr.  Roosevelt 
at  Oyster  Bay  and  at  Washington  almost  constantly 
for  eight  years.  He  had  a  confidential  relationship, 
handling  his  letters,  state  papers,  and  even  his  pri 
vate  purse.  Mr.  Cheney  affirmed: 

Mr.  Dulany  declares  that  he  never  heard  President  Roose 
velt  use  a  profane  word,  nor  relate  a  story  that  could  not  be 
repeated  in  a  drawing  room  in  the  presence  of  ladies;  that 
he  was  always  good-natured  and  jovial,  treating  every 
member  of  the  Presidential  party  very  cordially  at  all 
times. 

He  did  not  sting  his  secretaries  with  sarcasm  or 
scold  so  bitterly  as  to  make  people  feel  worse  than  if 
they  had  been  really  sworn  at  even  while  driven  by 
his  work.  He  could  direct  forked  lightning  to  hit  the 
guilty,  and  hence  used  good,  plain  English  when  it 
was  required.  Because  he  was  not  upset  by  personal 
vindictiveness,  however,  he  could  barb  his  shafts 
thoughtfully  and  did  not  require  swear  words  to 
prong  them.  He  did  not  use  profanity  like  some  who 
do  so  when  their  vocabulary  fails  them.  He  coined 
phrases  much  stronger  than  any  which  were  sharp 
ened  and  poisoned  with  profane  invective.  Some  of 
these  phrases  were  "rosewater  reformers,"  "out 
patients  of  Bedlam,"  "nature  fakers,"  "muck  rakers," 


280  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"molly  coddlers,"  "malefactors  of  great  wealth,"  "un 
desirable  citizens,"  "common  thieves,"  "an  elder 
Buddy-duddy  with  sweet-bread  brains." 

He  had  a  favorite  phrase  which  hurriedly  spoken 
might  sound  wrong.  He  used  it  to  Mr.  Leary  in  in 
sisting  on  political  honesty.  Here  it  is : 

And,  ~by  Godfrey,  I  mean  it!  If  there's  a  mongrel  plat 
form  adopted  by  the  Republican  Convention,  much  as  I 
dislike  Wilson,  I'll  stump  the  country  for  him  from  one 
end  of  it  to  the  other,  and  I  won't  ask  his  permission  to 
do  it,  either. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  could  not  endure  a  lie — nor  employ 
one  nor  dodge  behind  a  white  one  called  subterfuge 
or  "diplomacy." 

In  a  sermon  while  pastor  of  Grace  Methodist 
Church,  New  York,  on  the  subject,  "Is  it  Ever  Right 
to  Lie?"  I  made  a  statement  with  reference  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  customs  concerning  interviews.  That 
statement  became  badly  twisted  as  reported  by  the 
daily  papers  so  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  described  as 
frequently  denying  authentic  interviews.  He  had 
such  high  regard  for  the  ministry  that  he  rightfully 
wrote  a  very  sharp  letter  of  rebuke.  (See  letter, 
page  281.) 

My  reply  to  this  letter,  which  completely  satisfied 
him,  follows: 

Dear  Colonel  Roosevelt: 

In  my  judgment  nobody  In  fifty  years  has  done  as  much 
as  you  have  for  the  advancement  of  righteousness  and  the 
upbuilding  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  in  no  circumstances 
would  I  slander  your  high  and  fine  character  or  willfully 
misrepresent  you.  You  have  always  been  one  of  my  idols. 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND    281 


METROPOLITAN 

432  FOURTH  AVENUE  NEW  YORK 

Otfcaof  j,:arch  2nd,-  1917. 

Theodore  Rootevek 


JJear  Dr.  Reisner; 

In  a  clipping  sent  to  me,  In  a  sermon  of 

'yours,  you  are  quoted  as  saying  that  it  is  my  Alleged. 

V 
practice -to  deny  my  .statements,  if  they  are  revealed 

through  a  broken  confidence,  co'upling  thia. allegation  of 

•, 
yours  with  various  other  similar  statements  about  diplomats 

f      v 
and  Jesuits.    You  are  a  clergyman,  and  you  have  no 

business  to  make  a  public  statement  about  any  man,  which 
Is  discreditable  to  him,  unless  you  knov?  youx  facts.   The 
statement  -that  you  make  about  me  is  pure  slander,  which  th» 
slightest  inquiry  would  have  taught  you  was  slander, 
neither  you,  nor  anyone  else  can  in  all  my  career  }find  any 
Instance  in  which  I  have  ever  denied  a  statement  J  -have 
actually  made, 

.Sincerely  yours, 


You  have  had  so  much  to  do  with  newspapers  that  you 
can  understand  how,  when  they  edit  to  condense  a  state 
ment,  they  may  not  catch  it  as  it  was  intended.  If  I  did 
you  an  injustice,  I  am  most  heartily  sorry  and  assure  you 
that  it  was  in  no  wise  intended.  My  statement  was,  that 
you  were  reputed  to  assert  that  anyone  who  betrayed  a 
confidence,  by  that  act  elected  himself  a  member  of  the 
Ananias  Club.  Having  so  denominated  the  man  who  broke 
your  confidence,  you  took  no  trouble  to  deny  or  affirm  the 
statement  which  exhibited  the  fact  that  he  had  betrayed 
your  confidence. 


ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

I  did  not  say  nor  affirm,  nor  was  it  in  my  being  to  think, 
that  you  ever  deny  an  exact  statement,  for  I  am  confident 
that  you  are  too  moral,  too  Christian,  and  too  manly  to  do 
that.  The  close  relationship  between  diplomats  and  Jesuits 
occurred  because  later  paragraphs  were  boiled  down  by 
the  newspaper  into  a  sentence. 

This  letter  evidently  stated  his  position  correctly, 
for  almost  immediately  the  following  came  back 
from  him: 


METROPOLITAN 

432  FOURTH  AVENUE  NEW  YORK 


Office  of 
Theodore  Roosevelt 


Uy   doar  fir. 

That's  a  very  fine  and  manly  latter  of 
Z   an  yery  glad  you  mad*  the  statement     inasmuch  ao  It 
"brought  me  such  a  letter  \ 

With  heartiest  good  wishes, 

Faithfully  yours, 


This  letter  developed  a  personal  friendship  that 
ripened  in  many  subsequent  calls  and  conferences. 
The  charge  sometimes  made  that  he  denied  incon 
venient  interviews  is  hereby  completely  controverted. 

He  never  pardoned  anybody  convicted  of  dishon- 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND        283 

esty  in  a  public  trust.  That  was  to  him  a  most  con 
temptible  crime.  It  not  only  secured  unearned  funds 
as  in  ordinary  thievery  but  it  poisoned  common 
faith  in  law  and  the  government  back  of  it  and  so 
endangered  peace  and  encouraged  anarchy. 

No  kind  of  "influence"  ever  reached  him.  He  was 
vigorously  questioned  by  a  Republican  investigating 
committee  from  the  Senate  during  his  Progressive 
campaign,  and  one  senator,  referring  to  a  contribu 
tion  to  a  former  Republican  campaign  by  a  corpora 
tion,  asked :  "As  a  practical  man  would  you  think 
they  would  expect  some  consideration  in  return  for 
the  contribution?"  He  shot  back,  "As  a  practical 
man,  one  who  knows  me  and  my  record  and  would 
still  expect  a  public  favor  from  me  in  such  circum 
stances  is  either  a  crook  or  an  idiot." 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  attitude  toward  substantial 
"favors"  shown  to  government  officials  was  under 
stood  even  in  the  early  days.  He  himself  recounts  an 
incident  when  with  his  aide,  Lieutenant  Sharpe, 
while  assistant  secretary  of  the  navy,  he  had  spent 
seven  million  dollars  for  auxiliary  cruisers.  It  sud 
denly  began  to  rain.  He  had  only  four  cents  in  his 
pocket  and  tried  to  borrow  one  cent  or  five  from 
Sharpe,  so  that  he  could  ride  home  on  the  street  car, 
but  Sharpe  did  not  have  a  cent.  Then  he  said : 

Never  mind,  Sharpe,  that's  why  we  will  beat  the  Span 
iards.  It  isn't  every  country  where  two  public  servants 
could  spend  seven  million  dollars  and  not  have  a  cent  in 
their  pockets  after  they  are  through.1 


The  Life  of  Theodore   Roosevelt,'  by   William    Draper   Lewis,  p.  126. 
Copyright,  The  John  C.  Winston  Company. 


284  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Mr.  Roosevelt  never  used  tobacco  in  any  form.  He 
was  not  embarrassed  by  the  fact  and  never  excused 
it.  When  offered  cigars,  he  frankly  told  the  donors 
that  he  did  not  smoke.  He  is  not  alone,  for  Presi 
dents  Washington,  Lincoln,  Taft,  and  Wilson  also 
never  indulged  in  the  use  of  tobacco. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  very  fond  of  "boxing"  as  an 
exercise  but  he  had  no  patronage  for  professional 
pugilism  with  its  bullies  and  gambling.  And  so  as 
Governor  of  New  York  in  his  message  asking  for  the 
repeal  of  the  then  prevalent  State  boxing  law  he 
said: 

Boxing  is  a  fine  sport,  but  this  affords  no  justification  of 
prize  fighting  any  more  than  a  cross-country  run  or  a  ride 
on  a  wheel  is  healthy  justifies  such  a  demoralizing  ex 
hibition  as  a  six-day  race. 

Further  on  he  said : 

In  the  case  of  prize  fighting  not  only  do  all  the  objec 
tions  which  apply  to  the  abuse  of  other  professional  sports 
apply  in  aggravated  form,  but  in  addition  the  exhibition 
has  a  very  demoralizing  and  brutalizing  effect. 

And  again: 

Moreover,  the  evils  are  greatly  aggravated  by  the  fact 
that  the  fight  is  for  a  money  prize  and  is  the  occasion  for 
unlimited  gambling  and  betting. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  beautiful 
beyond  description.  He  did  not  merely  board  at 
home  but  contributed  to  the  richness  of  its  atmos 
phere.  He  presents  an  irrefutable  rebuke  to  the  one 
who  extenuates  infidelity  and  moral  carelessness. 
His  great  heart  shed  healing  and  hope  because  it 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND    285 

was  fed  by  holy  love.  He  was  always  a  devoted  hus 
band,  a  consistent  father,  and  a  real  home  helper. 

Many  homes  are  blasted  and  children  damned  for 
ever  by  the  espousal  and  practice  of  a  double  code 
of  morals.  Theodore  Roosevelt  advocated  and  prac 
ticed  one  standard  of  morals  for  men  and  women 
alike.  He  excused  nothing  in  his  sons  for  which  he 
would  blame  his  daughters.  He  declared  his  con 
victions  clearly  and  confidently. 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  police  commissioner  he 
prosecuted  vice  without  regard  to  sex.  Just  as  far 
as  the  law  permitted,  he  "treated  the  men"  taken 
in  raids  on  dissolute  houses  "precisely  as  the  women 
were  treated."  He  was  very  positive  in  his  con 
viction  that  this  vice  should  not  be  tolerated.  He 
concludes  that  he  does  not  know  of  any  method  which 
will  completely  abolish  it  but  he  is  sure  that  it  can 
be  greatly  lessened  by  "treating  men  and  women  on 
an  exact  equality  for  the  same  act." 

Senator  Lodge  in  his  memorial  address  before  the 
United  States  Senate  paid  tribute  to  his  clean  ideals 
and  habits : 

He  had  a  profound  respect  for  women  and  never  spoke 
disparagingly  of  them.  He  abhorred  the  vulgar  and  coarse 
of  speech,  the  loose  liver  and  the  immoral.  His  life  was  a 
clean,  normal,  wholesome  life.  His  domestic  life  was  what 
every  American  home  should  be — as  sweet  as  old-fashioned 
poetry.  In  all  his  life  Theodore  Roosevelt  never  told  a 
vulgar  story. 

While  police  commissioner  a  group  of  men,  who 
themselves  lived  vilely  in  a  clandestine  way,  put  soft- 


286  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

footed  men  to  follow  him  for  weeks  by  day  and  by 
night,  hoping  that  they  would  catch  him  "off  his 
guard"  in  evil  ways.  When  told  of  it  he  was  hot 
with  anger  even  at  the  mere  suggestion  that  he  would 
soil  his  life  and  then  bring  it  home  to  his  babies. 
Of  course  they  failed. 

He  found  no  excuse  for  family  scandals  and  in 
fidelity.  He  wrote  George  Trevelyan  expressing 
great  satisfaction  and  delight  with  the  beautiful 
home  life  of  the  Italian  king  and  queen,  who  were 
so  evidently  loving  and  faithful  to  each  other.  This 
gave  him  an  opportunity  to  express  his  condemna 
tion  of  domestic  immorality,  which  he  feels  is  in 
creasingly  culpable  as  the  social  position  of  the  cul 
prits  increases.  He  is  sharply  and  clearly  critical 
of  disgraceful  living  in  high  places. 

Dr.  Lambert  described  Mr.  Roosevelt's  aversion 
to  "divorce"  to  me : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  greatly  concerned  over  the  custom 
of  treating  divorce  so  lightly  in  America.  He  insisted  that 
it  was  becoming  so  common  that  morals  might  get  down 
to  the  plane  of  the  barnyard  if  we  were  not  guarded.  He 
did  not  understand  how  society  at  large  could  permit  it. 
He  said,  "But  perhaps  I  have  the  morals  of  a  green  grocer, 
they  are  so  old  fashioned." 

In  Mr.  Roosevelt's  Pacific  Theological  Lectures  he 
says:  "I  do  not  believe  in  weakness;  I  believe  in  a 
man's  being  a  man ;  and  for  that  very  reason  I  abhor 
the  creature  who  uses  the  expression  that  a  'man 
must  be  a  man'  to  excuse  his  being  a  vile  and  vicious 
man." 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND        287 

The  Crown  Princess  of  Sweden,  while  entertaining 
Mr.  Roosevelt  at  dinner  during  his  European  tour, 
asked  him  if  Mrs.  Roosevelt  had  refused  to  receive  a 
certain  foreign  Duke  into  her  home  when  others 
feted  him  in  America.  Mr.  Roosevelt  told  her  very 
frankly  that  this  duke  had  led  a  scandalously  im 
moral  life  while  in  America,  only  escaping  arrest 
because  he  was  a  foreign  guest  of  royal  birth.  He 
then  told  her  that  the  Russian  ambassador  had  so 
insisted  on  the  President  receiving  the  Duke  that  it 
would  be  a  diplomatic  slight  not  to  do  so  and  he  was 
invited  to  lunch  at  Sagamore  Hill.  But  Mrs.  Roose 
velt  "regarded  his  presence  in  our  private  house  as 
both  a  scandal  and  an  insult,"  said  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
and  announced  that  she  would  leave  when  they  ar 
rived,  which  she  did.  The  two  foreign  dignitaries 
were  much  exercised  because  she  was  absent  and 
continued  to  inquire  about  her.  They  were  made  to 
clearly  understand  that  she  was  "out"  because  they 
were  "guests" — there  was  no  misunderstanding 
about  the  cause.  When  the  Princess  heard  these 
facts  she  jubilantly  called  across  the  table  to  her 
husband  to  tell  him  that  her  surmise  that  Mrs. 
Roosevelt  would  not  receive  such  guests  was  correct. 
All  Europe,  even  while  loose  in  its  standards,  was 
familiar  with  the  high  standards  of  our  President. 
The  Princess  then  told  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  her  own 
father  had  protected  her  from  meeting  this  same 
Duke  because  of  his  unsavory  reputation  and  dis 
gusting  standards  of  life.  When  Mr.  Roosevelt 
heard  that  the  "Duke"  had  been  shut  out  of  royal 
circles  he  wrote  a  friend  that  he  wished  Newport 


288  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

circles,  which  had  feted  him  so  wildly,  might  have 
learned  from  a  less  democratic  society  how  to  erect 
standards  of  decency. 

J.  B.  Bishop,  in  his  Theodore  Roosevelt  And  His 
Times,  gives  the  details.  He  also  recounts  the  Presi 
dent's  action  in  the  case  of  a  widely  known  writer 
who  forgot  his  foreign  wife  while  in  America. 
When  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  urged  to  receive  this  loose 
man  he  refused  even  to  see  him  and  published  a 
letter  stating  that  this  writer's  actions  were  "a 
revolt  against  the  ordinary  decencies  and  morali 
ties."  Mr.  Roosevelt  demanded  American  ideals  in 
moral  life  as  he  did  sound  money  in  the  currency. 
There  were  no  exceptions.  Mr.  Bishop,  after  dis 
cussing  these  "foreign"  cases  with  me,  gave  the 
names  of  some  very  noted  Americans  who  were  never 
invited  to  the  White  House  social  life  because  they 
had  been  divorced  under  scandalous  circumstances. 
Few  other  circles  shut  them  out.  Mr.  Bishop  con 
cluded  : 

No  one  with  the  reputation  for  loose  living— no  matter 
how  prominent  or  wealthy — was  ever  welcomed  by  Mrs. 
Roosevelt  or  the  President  as  a  guest  at  the  official  resi 
dence. 


Mr.  Straus  also  told  me  that  the  President  re 
quested  the  Cabinet  members  to  give  no  social  recog 
nition  to  such  "tainted"  people. 

It  would  be  refreshing  in  our  day  of  increasingly 
easy  and  disgusting  divorces  if  others  of  similar  high 
place  would  speak  out  in  word  and  example.  Mr. 


A  PUKE  AND  REVERENT  MIND    289 

Roosevelt  would  not  keep  quiet  in  the  face  of  some 
present-time  exhibits. 

His  ideals  for  others  were  rigidly  applied  to  his 
own  life.  W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  said  to  the  writer  : 

In  our  childhood,  boys  were  not  so  wisely  instructed 
about  sex  matters  as  they  are  to-day.  And  yet  I  remember 
that  as  a  boy  Theodore  was  absolutely  pure-minded;  it 
seemed  to  be  an  innate  quality.  He  could  never  endure  a 
certain  acquaintance  of  mine  solely  because  of  his  habit 
to  slip  in  a  soiled  story  during  conversation.  He  always 
had  a  way  to  stop  anyone  relating  such  incidents. 

Richard  Welling,  recounting  personal  reminis 
cences  of  undergraduate  days,  says: 

Of  escapades  as  to  wine  or  women  there  simply  were  none. 
A  man's  classmates  know. 

My  interest  in  certifying  to  this  is  to  bring  out  the 
Aristotelian  quality  of  pure  virtue  performed  without  con 
scious  effort,  evil  overcome  by  good,  no  time  for  mischief, 
no  time  even  to  develop  a  little  Puritan  asceticism  or  prig- 
gishness,  but  always  striding  forward,  toward  the  accom 
plishment  of  some  great  purpose.1 

Mr.  Loeb  told  me  that  during  the  ten  years  spent 
with  Mr.  Roosevelt  he  had  seen  him  many  times  turn 
his  -back  and  walk  away  from  a  man  simply  because 
the  visitor  started  to  tell  a  "good"  story  of  shady 
color.  His  reputation  as  a  jolly  fellow  with  strongly 
physical  nature  blinded  them  to  the  clean  taste  of 
his  spirit. 

Mr.  Van  Valkenburg  said  to  me:  "I  have  never 
known  a  man  who  so  fully  measured  up  to  the 


"Theodore  Roosevelt  at  Harvard  —  Some  Personal  Reminiscences, 
by  Richard  Welling,  in  The  Outlook  for  October  27,  1920. 


290  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

standard  of  chastity  as  set  forth  in  the  teachings  of 
Christ.'7 

Sometimes  it  took  "strong  arm"  methods  from  him, 
especially  in  the  cowboy  days,  to  keep  the  channel 
of  conversation  clean.  But  his  courage  matched  his 
convictions.  One  day  a  quick-shooting  cowboy 
named  Jim  was  telling  a  disgusting  story  when  Mr. 
Roosevelt  came  up,  looked  him  straight  in  the  eye 
and  said,  "Jim,  I  like  you,  but  you  are  the  nastiest 
talking  man  I  ever  heard."  The  cowboys  were  ac 
customed  to  see  gunplay  in  such  cases,  and  were  sur 
prised  when  Jim  hung  his  head  in  shame  and  apolo 
gized.  After  that  they  were  good  friends. 

Mr.  John  J.  Leary,  Jr.,  who  was  intimately  ac 
quainted  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  traveled  with  him 
thousands  of  miles  as  a  newspaper  correspondent, 
wrote  me: 

Roosevelt  was  not  only  a  clean  man;  he  just  radiated 
cleanness. 

In  an  address  to  young  men,  at  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  meet 
ing,  Mr.  Roosevelt  advised: 

You  cannot  retain  your  self-respect  if  you  are  loose  and 
foul  of  tongue.  A  man  who  is  to  lead  a  clean  and  honorable 
life  must  inevitably  suffer  if  his  speech  likewise  is  not 
clean  and  honorable.  The  future  welfare  of  the  nation  de 
pends  upon  the  way  in  which  we  can  combine  in  our  young 
men  decency  and  strength. 

Purity  and  reverence  are  inseparable  associates. 
Each  aids  the  other.  To  be  irreverent  in  using  God's 
name  is  to  depreciate  the  love  and  wisdom  which 


A  PURE  AND  REVERENT  MIND   291 

stand  back  of  the  laws  of  right  made  for  man.  When 
pure  love  is  sullied  the  basis  for  genuine  love  is 
spoiled  and  the  spiritual,  which  is  love  in  action, 
becomes  discolored,  stagnant,  and  paralyzed.  Gen 
uine  satisfying  religion  is  as  impossible  to  the  im 
pure  or  irreverent  as  the  use  of  the  optical  nerves 
is  to  eyes  covered  with  cataracts  or  the  use  of  finger 
touch  is  to  the  paralyzed  arm.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  pure  and  reverent  find  it  easy  to  be  disciples  of 
the  Great  Teacher  who  came  to  reveal  God  and 
promised,  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they 
shall  see  God."  This  is  not  a  promise  for  the  future 
but  is  to  be  realized  in  this  world  and  now.  When 
men  thus  see  the  Leader  their  steps  may  be  ordered 
aright,  and  they  may  go  forward  and  that  fearlessly. 
And  here  again  Mr.  Roosevelt's  faith  backed  by 
obedience  to  God's  laws  demonstrated  not  only  that 
he  was  a  Christian  but  that  he  was  rendered  efficient 
by  that  fact. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION 

"I  have  never  claimed  to  be  a  total  abstainer,  but  I  drink 
as  little  as  most  total  abstainers,  for  I  really  doubt  whether 
on  an  average,  year  in  and  year  out,  I  drink  more  than  is 
given  for  medicinal  purposes  to  many  people."  —  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

Blessed  art  thou,  O  Land,  when  .  .  .  thy  princes  eat  in 
due  season,  for  strength,  and  not  for  drunkenness!  — 
Eccl.  10.  17. 


F  |  ^HE  problems  presented  by  intoxicating  drink 
are  vital,  and  Christians  must  face  and 

-**-  answer  them.  They  can  never  be  completely 
settled  by  law.  Much  depends  upon  the  attitude  of 
the  citizenship.  It  will  be  interesting,  therefore, 
to  find  Mr.  Roosevelt's  position  toward  it. 

He  graphically  described  the  origin  of  the  rumor 
that  he  drank  to  excess  and  the  subsequent  libel 
suit: 

"Did  you  ever  smoke?"  someone  asked. 

"There  is  where  that  story  of  my  drinking  started,"  Mr. 
Roosevelt  continued,  not  hearing  the  question  or  ignoring 
it.  "You  see,  when  I  would  decline  a  cigar,  saying  I  did 
not  smoke,  folks  would  often  ask,  in  a  joking  way,  'What 
are  your  bad  habits?'  In  the  same  spirit,  I  would  reply, 
'Prize  fighting  and  strong  drink.'  .  .  . 

"I  am  very  fond  of  that  story  of  Sidney  Smith's,  who, 
playing  with  his  children,  stopped  suddenly,  saying,  'Chil 
dren,  we  must  now  be  serious  —  here  comes  a  fool.'  You 

292 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         293 

know  the  kind  he  meant — those  poor  unfortunates  who 
must  take  everything  said  to  them  literally. 

"One  of  these  to  whom  I  made  that  remark  said:  'Roose 
velt,  I  hear,  drinks  hard.'  The  other  fool  replied,  'Yes, 
that's  true.  He  told  me  so  himself,'  and  so  it  went. 

"That  is  all  there  ever  was  to  the  talk  of  my  drinking. 
From  that  start  it  spread  and  spread  until,  in  self-defense, 
I  was  compelled  to  take  action  to  stop  it.  Some  folks  said 
I  went  out  of  my  way  to  find  a  little  editor  who  could  not 
well  defend  himself.  The  fact  is,  he  was  the  one  editor  I 
could  hold  to  account.  There  were,  and  are,  editors  nearer 
New  York  I  gladly  would  have  sued  in  like  circumstances, 
but  they  knew  better  than  to  print  what  they  knew  was 
untrue.  Had  any  of  them  done  so,  I  would  have  hauled 
them  up  short,  and  with  much  more  glee  than  I  did  the 
Michigan  man,  for  the  men  I  have  in  mind  have  real  malice 
toward  me  and  he,  I  am  satisfied,  had  none."1 

George  A.  Newett  published  a  weekly  paper  called 
The  Iron  Ore  at  Ishpeming,  Michigan,  which  had  a 
local  circulation  of  twenty-five  hundred.  He  had 
been  appointed  postmaster  in  1905  by  President 
Roosevelt  but  had  resigned.  He  claimed  in  his  testi 
mony  to  have  supported  Mr.  Roosevelt's  candidacies 
even  as  far  as  to  back  him  as  his  second  choice  for 
the  nomination  in  1912,  when  Mr.  Taft  was  his  first 
choice.  He,  however,  turned  against  Mr.  Roosevelt 
very  vigorously  when  he  ran  as  third  party  or  Pro 
gressive  candidate  and  after  a  speech  by  Mr.  Roose 
velt  attacking  the  local  candidate  for  Congress,  a 
personal  friend  of  Mr.  Newett's,  The  Iron  Ore  as 
sailed  him  viciously.  Among  other  things  it  said : 

According  to  Roosevelt,  he  is  the  only  man  who  can  call 

lTalka  With  T.  R.,  Leary,  p.  22f.  By  permission  of  Houghton  Mifflin  Com 
pany. 


294  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

others  liars,  rascals,  and  thieves,  .  .  .  but  if  anyone  calls 
Roosevelt  a  liar,  he  raves  and  roars  and  takes  on  in  an 
awful  way.  Roosevelt  lies  and  curses  in  a  most  disgusting 
way;  he  gets  drunk  too,  and  that  not  infrequently. 

In  his  testimony  Mr.  Newett  declared  that  in  far 
Western  trips  and  in  other  sections  he  had  heard 
continued  rumors  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  drunk, 
but  when  he  tried  to  get  evidence  no  one  had  actually 
seen  him  drunk  nor  was  anyone  willing  to  testify  that 
he  drank  to  excess.  Because  at  banquets  and  other 
social  occasions  he  was  exuberant  and  apparently 
over-boisterous,  his  enemies  and  thoughtless  critics 
announced  that  alcoholic  spirits  created  his  spirited 
actions.  But  the  evidence  proved  that  his  own  words 
were  true,  "I  drink  about  as  much  as  Lyman  Abbott, 
and  I  say  this  with  his  permission." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  brought  thirty-five  witnesses,  among 
whom  were  the  most  noted  men  in  America.  There 
were  newspaper  men,  detectives,  house  servants,  po 
litical  associates,  Cabinet  compeers,  relatives,  doc 
tors,  travel  companions,  secretaries,  and  intimate 
friends.  They  had  lived  with  him  in  his  home, 
played  with  him  in  recreations,  been  his  traveling 
companions  across  the  country  and  in  foreign  lands, 
acted  as  his  confidants,  enjoyed  his  intimate  hos 
pitality  and  had  seen  him  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
night.  With  their  evidence  he  traced  his  career  from 
college  days  up  to  that  minute  and  in  every  detail  of 
his  activities  in  the  purpose  to  disprove  the  charges 
made  by  Newett.  Some  of  these  men  were  Jacob  A. 
Riis,  Albert  Shaw,  editor  of  the  Review  of  Reviews; 
Lyman  Abbott,  Dr.  Lambert,  his  long-time  physician ; 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         295 

Dr.  Rixey,  his  medical  adviser  while  President ;  Wil 
liam  F.  Loeb,  his  private  secretary ;  W.  Emlen  Roose 
velt,  his  cousin;  James  Sloan,  his  secret  service 
guard;  Gilson  Gardner,  Gifford  Pinchot,  James  R. 
Garfield,  Robert  Bacon,  George  B.  Cortelyou,  Ad 
miral  Dewey,  and  General  Leonard  Wood. 

After  going  over  all  the  evidence  given  at  the 
trial,  I  am  convinced  that  he  never  drank  brandy 
except  a  very  few  times,  and  then  by  order  of  a  physi 
cian.  He  consumed  a  dozen  or  so  mint  juleps  in 
the  course  of  his  entire  life.  He  infrequently  drank 
light  wine  which  was  put  on  his  home  table  only 
when  there  was  company  at  a  meal,  and  this  because 
it  was  the  continuation  of  a  Dutch  custom  as  old  as 
his  family.  He  had  never  "drunk  liquor  or  porter." 
He  affirmed :  "I  have  never  taken  a  high  ball  or  a 
cocktail  in  my  life."  He  disliked  beer  and  said, 
"I  do  not  drink  beer."  On  the  African  trip  he  af 
firmed,  "I  never  touched  one  drop  of  either  the  cham 
pagne  or  whisky,"  which  was  taken  along.  At  big 
banquets  and  at  state  dinners  he  drank  in  a  formal 
way  and  never  more  than  two  glasses  of  champagne, 
usually  in  responding  to  toasts.  During  the  Cuban 
campaign,  "I  drank  nothing — I  had  no  whisky  or 
brandy  with  me."  He  had  never  been  in  a  saloon 
barroom  but  twice,  and  that  in  the  cowboy  days 
when  it  was  the  hotel  office,  and  then  he  never  once 
drank  over  the  bar. 

C.  W.  Thompson,  who  as  the  correspondent  of  a 
great  city  paper  opposed  to  him  was  paid  to  travel 
with  and  report  diligently  any  disparaging  actions 
or  conditions,  testified : 


296  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  could  not  possibly  have  taken  liquor  to  affect  him  in 
the  least  degree  without  my  knowing  it.  I  was  there  to 
watch  him  and  take  note  of  every  single  action  he  per 
formed. 

William  Loeb  testified  that  during  his  ten  years 
as  secretary  he  had  ottered  him  whisky  a  few  times 
when  he  felt  it  was  needed,  but  Mr.  Koosevelt  in 
variably  refused  it.  James  R.  Garfield  said  that 
even  after  the  long,  hard  rides  he  took  with  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  and  they  came  in  "cold  and  wet  and  tired, 
there  was  nothing  taken  but  tea."  Few  men  in  any 
walk  of  life  could  excel  that  record,  especially  if 
active  in  politics  during  the  period  covered  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt. 

Mr.  Newett  closed  his  testimony  with  a  long  state 
ment,  concluding  as  follows : 

In  the  face  of  the  unqualified  testimony  of  so  many  dis 
tinguished  men  who  have  been  in  a  position  for  years  to 
know  the  truth,  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  I  was 
mistaken. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  followed  Mr.  Newett's  statement  to 
the  court  by  suggesting  that  very  small  damages  be 
assessed  and  that  only  because  the  charge  against 
him  must  be  refuted. 

Said  Mr.  Roosevelt : 

Your  Honor,  in  view  of  the  statement  of  the  defendant,  I 
ask  the  Court  to  instruct  the  jury  that  I  desire  only  nominal 
damages.  I  did  not  go  into  this  suit  for  money,  I  did  not 
go  into  it  for  any  vindictive  purpose.  I  went  into  it,  and 
as  the  court  has  said,  I  made  my  reputation  an  issue,  be 
cause  I  wished,  once  for  all  during  my  lifetime,  thoroughly 
and  comprehensively  to  deal  with  these  slanders,  so  that 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         297 

never  again  will  it  be  possible  for  any  man,  in  good  faith, 
to  repeat  them. 
I  have  achieved  my  purpose  and  I  am  content. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  never  did  a  more  courageous  thing 
than  to  air  this  charge  in  public.  To  this  day  men 
shut  the  evidence  of  this  trial  out  and  carelessly  and 
stubbornly  affirm  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  accus 
tomed  to  drink  to  excess.  That  is  an  absolute  false 
hood  and  criminal  slander.  If  it  were  true,  then 
high  righteousness  such  as  ruled  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
life  could  root  not  only  in  an  alcohol  addled  brain 
but  in  a  lying  and  hypocritical  soul. 

Mr.  Loeb  told  me  how  stiff  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  in 
refusing  to  follow  old  "drinking"  customs : 

The  old-fashioned  "Dutch"  home  to  which  Mr.  Roosevelt 
and  his  relatives  were  accustomed  always  had  two  or 
three  kinds  of  wine  on  the  table.  But  Mr.  Roosevelt  even 
then  did  not  drink  it  frequently.  He  greatly  grieved  my 
wife  by  refusing  to  drink  wine  at  our  table.  When  he  would 
come  back  into  camp  while  on  a  hunt,  wet  and  cold  after  a 
long  day's  hunt  and  when  others  took  whisky  to  ward  off 
a  cold,  he  refused  to  do  so. 

When  the  official  bulletin  was  issued  by  the  sur 
geon  at  the  Chicago  Hospital,  where  he  lay  after 
being  shot  at  Milwaukee,  it  said :  "We  find  him  in  a 
magnificent  physical  condition,  due  to  his  regular 
exercise,  his  habitual  abstinence  from  tobacco  and 
liquor." 

When  the  rumors  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  drinking  were 
running  wild  the  Rev.  Dr.  Iglehart  sent  him  a  tele 
gram  and  received  the  following  reply : 


298  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

You  are  absolutely  correct.  I  have  never  claimed  to  be 
a  total  abstainer,  but  I  drink  as  little  as  most  total  ab 
stainers,  for  I  really  doubt  whether  on  an  average,  year  in 
and  year  out,  I  drink  more  than  is  given  for  medicinal  pur 
poses  to  many  people.  I  never  touch  whisky,  and  I  have 
never  drunk  a  cocktail  or  a  highball  in  my  life.  I  doubt 
whether  I  have  drunk  a  dozen  teaspoonfuls  of  brandy 
since  I  came  back  from  Africa,  and  as  far  as  I  now  recollect, 
in  each  case  it  was  for  medicinal  purposes.  In  Africa  dur 
ing  the  eleven  months  I  drank  exactly  seven  ounces  of 
brandy;  this  was  under  our  doctor's  direction  in  my  first 
fever  attack,  and  once  when  I  was  completely  exhausted. 
My  experience  on  these  two  occasions  convinced  me  that 
tea  was  better  than  brandy,  and  during  the  last  six  months 
in  Africa  I  took  no  brandy  when  sick,  taking  tea  instead 
(Iglehart,  p.  322). 

R.  J.  Cuninghame,  the  famous  African  hunter, 
who  was  with  the  Colonel  on  his  trip  in  that  country, 
in  an  interview  in  the  New  York  Times,  said : 

I'd  like  to  say  what  I  know.  The  expedition  was  strictly 
dry.  There  was,  however,  a  special  bottle  of  brandy  of  the 
very  finest  brand  which  belonged  to  the  Colonel.  He  never 
touched  a  drop  of  it. 

But  at  last  he  had  a  touch  of  fever  and  the  surgeon 
ordered  him  a  dose  of  his  own  brandy.  It  was  measured 
out  like  medicine,  perhaps  two  ounces  or  three  in  water. 
He  drank  it  and  at  once  spat  it  out.  He  explained  that  as 
soon  as  spirits  entered  his  throat,  his  muscles  always  auto 
matically  contracted  and  rejected  them. 

Later  the  surgeon  mixed  a  dose  of  the  brandy  with 
salad  oil  and  insisted  that  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not 
take  this  brandy  he  would  inject  morphine  into  his 
throat.  He  was  then  finally  able  to  get  it  down.  Mr. 
Cuninghame  added  that  when  the  trip  was  ended  he 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         299 

measured  that  bottle  of  brandy  and  only  two  doses 
were  gone,  the  one  the  Colonel  could  not  keep  on  his 
stomach  and  the  other  mixed  by  the  doctor  with  oil. 

While  on  the  Panama  inspection  trip  when  he  was 
offered  a  "Panama  cocktail"  of  quinine  and  brandy 
he  declined  it,  and  instead  took  from  his  own  pocket 
a  two  grain  quinine  pill,  which  he  had  provided 
against  the  malarial  weather. 

Canteens  where  intoxicants  were  sold  had  long 
been  permitted  in  the  army.  After  a  long  fight  they 
were  finally  driven  out.  But  the  liquor  forces  rallied 
and  threatened  to  restore  them  and  Dr.  Iglehart 
went  to  Washington  to  secure  President  Roosevelt's 
aid,  who  assured  him : 

Do  not  be  alarmed.  The  removal  of  the  drink  from  the 
army  was  a  most  fortunate  thing  for  the  men  themselves 
and  the  nation  they  represent,  and  I  promise  you  that  so 
long  as  I  am  President,  or  so  long  as  I  shall  have  any  in 
fluence  whatever  in  the  Republican  party  or  in  American 
politics,  intoxicants  shall  never  come  back  into  the  canteen 
(Iglehart,  p.  320). 

As  early  as  September,  1907,  President  Roosevelt 
showed  his  friendship  for  prohibition  when  he  wrote 
D.  D.  Thompson,  the  editor  of  the  Northwestern 
Christian  Advocate  at  Chicago,  concerning  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution  for  the  new  State  of  Okla 
homa: 

I  felt  greatly  relieved  by  the  adoption  of  the  prohibition 
article  in  the  Constitution;  for  without  this  I  should  have 
been  seriously  concerned  as  to  the  future  of  the  Indians. 

He  gave  his  calm  and  clear  decision  against  the 


300  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

saloon,  when  he  classed  it  as  a  source  of  endless 
evil  in  another  letter  to  Dr.  Iglehart : 

There  could  have  been  no  more  practical  illustration  of 
the  hideous  evil  wrought  by  the  liquor  traffic  than  was  af 
forded  by  the  results  of  its  stoppage  for  the  few  Sundays 
during  which  we  were  able  to  keep  the  saloons  absolutely 
closed.  During  this  period,  the  usual  mass  of  individuals 
up  in  the  courts  on  Monday  morning,  on  charges  of  being 
drunk  or  disorderly  and  committing  assaults,  diminished 
by  two  thirds  or  over.  The  hospitals,  such  as  Bellevue, 
showed  a  similar  diminution  of  persons  brought  to  them 
because  of  alcoholism  and  crimes  due  to  drunkenness. 
.  .  .  Men  who  would  otherwise  have  stayed  in  New  York 
drinking,  while  their  wives  and  children  suffered  in  the 
heated  tenement  houses,  took  these  same  wives  and  chil 
dren  for  a  Sunday  holiday  in  the  country  (Iglehart,  p.  323). 

In  an  article  on  "The  New  York  Police,"  written 
in  1807,  he  asserts : 

The  liquor  business  does  not  stand  on  the  same  footing 
with  other  occupations.  It  always  tends  to  produce  crim 
inality  in  the  population  at  large  and  law  breaking  among 
the  saloonkeepers  themselves  (American  Ideals,  p.  .175). 

He  also  finds  a  ready  explanation  of  the  low  type 
of  men  nominated  for  office  in  those  days  by  the  fact 
that  the  primaries  were  so  largely  held  in  saloons. 

It  is  this  that  gives  the  liquor  sellers  their  enormous  in 
fluence  in  politics.  Preparatory  to  the  general  election  of 
1884  there  were  held  in  the  various  districts  of  New  York 
ten  hundred  and  seven  primaries  and  political  conventions 
of  all  parties,  and  of  these  no  less  than  six  hundred  and 
thirty-three  took  place  in  liquor  saloons— a  showing  that 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         301 

leaves  small  ground  for  wonder  at  the  low  average  grade 
of  the  nominees  ("Machine  Politics  in  New  York  City," 
American  Ideals,  p.  121). 

How  did  he  propose  to  meet  this  evil?  At  the 
beginning  of  his  career  his  central  contest  was  with 
the  wealthy  men  who  sought,  demanded,  and  pur 
chased  preferential  treatment  in  legislative  and 
legal  matters.  Consequently,  he  did  not  get  down 
close  to  a  consideration  of  social  questions  until 
later  in  life,  when  he  followed  a  course  that  led  him 
ultimately  to  heartily  support  the  remarkable  pro 
gram  of  the  Progressive  Party.  He  then  began  to 
see  the  relation  of  the  saloon  to  the  social  problem 
and  therefore  he  was  not  unfriendly  to  a  plank  in  the 
Progressive  platform  expressing  antipathy  to  the 
saloon ;  in  fact,  such  a  resolution  came  near  to  being 
inserted. 

But  did  he  favor  Prohibition? 

Mr.  Leary  feels  positive  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not 
favor  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  but,  rather,  was 
convinced  that  the  liquor  question  would  solve  itself 
as  people  increasingly  learned  its  evil  effects.  Mr. 
Leary's  statement  led  Andrew  B.  Wood,  assistant 
superintendent  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League,  to  print 
an  answer  in  the  New  York  Tribune.  He  called  at 
tention  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Leary  quoted  no  declara 
tion  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  against  the  Eighteenth  Amend 
ment  but  reported  him  as  saying :  "I  shall  not  allow 
it  or  anything  else  to  swerve  me  from  the  [war] 
work  we  are  now  in."  That,  Mr.  Wood  insisted,  was 
different  from  opposing  it,  but,  rather,  evidenced  the 


302  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

fact  that  he  felt  that  all  his  strength  was  needed 
to  push  the  war.    Continuing,  Mr.  Wood  writes : 

He  recognized  the  merits  of  both  the  suffrage  and  prohi 
bition  campaigns  and  said  to  the  Hon.  Wayne  B.  Wheeler, 
of  Washington,  and  Colonel  L.  B.  Musgrove,  of  Alabama, 
that  he  had  to  break  that  rule  [demanding  single  devotion 
to  specific  war  activities]  in  order  to  help  the  suffrage 
fight,  and  if  it  became  necessary,  he  would  do  it  again  in 
order  to  help  prohibition.  In  my  interview,  which  was  with 
reference  to  prohibition  and  the  Republican  party  in  New 
York  and  the  nation,  in  speaking  of  the  progress  of  prohi 
bition  and  its  ultimate  achievements  by  ratification,  he  said, 
"I  will  do  everything  I  can  to  make  it  possible." 

Mr.  Wood  further  calls  attention  to  a  letter  writ 
ten  to  Dr.  Iglehart  on  December  17,  1917,  right  after 
Congress  had  submitted  the  National  Prohibition 
Amendment,  which  seems  to  prove  that  he  helped  to 
get  the  bill  through  Congress: 

My  dear  Dr.  Iglehart: 

I  thank  you  for  your  book  and  appreciate  your  sending 
it  to  me  and  I  wish  to  congratulate  you  on  what  has  hap 
pened  in  Congress  and  the  success  that  is  crowning  your 
long  fight  against  alcoholism.  The  American  saloon  has 
been  one  of  the  most  mischievous  elements  in  American 
social,  political,  and  industrial  life.  No  man  has  warred 
more  valiantly  against  it  than  you  have,  and  I  am  glad  that 
it  has  been  my  privilege  to  stand  with  you  in  the  contest. 

When  Governor  Charles  S.  Whitman  was  a  candi 
date  for  a  third  term  as  Governor,  the  political  bosses 
of  the  State  felt  sure  that  he  would  not  be  reelected, 
but  at  the  same  time  they  were  helpless  because  they 
could  get  no  candidate  to  supplant  him.  In  their 


DRINKING  AND  PROHIBITION         303 

desperation  they  appealed  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who 
they  felt  confident  could  both  be  nominated  and 
elected.  They  therefore  sent  Horace  Wilkinson  to 
interview  him,  hoping  that  he  could  be  persuaded  to 
accept  the  nomination.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  knowing  the 
wet  views  of  William  Barnes,  promptly  informed 
Mr.  Wilkinson  that  if  everything  else  were  removed 
there  was  yet  one  insuperable  obstacle  to  his  accept 
ing  the  nomination.  He  explained  that  the  people 
who  were  in  favor  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment, 
making  prohibition  effective  nationally,  would  ask 
him  for  his  position  on  that  subject.  He  knew  that 
Mr.  Barnes  and  his  advisers  were  opposed  to  it,  but 
declared  that  if  he  were  asked,  he  would  promptly 
state  that  he  was  in  favor  of  passing  the  eighteenth 
Amendment.  Mr.  AVilkinson  reported  immediately 
to  Mr.  Barnes,  who  replied:  "I  don't  care  a  damn 
whether  he  is  for  prohibition  or  against  it.  The  peo 
ple  will  vote  for  him  because  he  is  Theodore  Roose 
velt."  This  clearly  puts  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  record 
as  in  favor  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment.  If  he  had 
run,  he  would  have  taken  the  same  clear-cut  and 
laudable  position  that  Charles  S.  Whitman  did.  Mr. 
Bishop  makes  this  very  clear  in  his  book,  Theodore 
Roosevelt  and  His  Times.  With  these  facts  in  mind, 
I  asked  Mr.  McGrath,  who  was  Mr.  Roosevelt's  secre 
tary  at  about  that  time,  what  he  thought  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  attitude  was  toward  prohibition.  He  replied : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  think  the  time  was  yet  ripe  to  adopt 
national  prohibition.  He  felt  that  the  gradual  progress  of 
prohibition  through  legislation  by  various  States  would 
finally  educate  the  people  so  that  they  would  demand  and 


304  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

enforce  it.  He  feared  that  if  approved  now,  it  would  lead 
to  harmful  laxness  in  great  cities.  But  when  he  faced  the 
question  of  adoption  or  rejection,  he  preferred  to  see  it  go 
into  effect  now  with  all  the  dangers  of  working  it  out  to 
success  than  for  it  to  have  the  backset  a  rejection  would 
give  it. 

This  man,  so  passionately  devoted  to  the  service 
of  his  fellow  men,  could  not  leave  liquor  out  of  ac 
count  when  he  found  that  it  ruined  his  fellows, 
wrecked  their  homes,  and  multiplied  crime.  He  was 
convinced  of  all  these  facts.  Therefore,  loving  his 
weaker  brother,  he  would  do  the  thing  which  he  be 
lieved  would  protect  him  from  the  ravages  of  alcohol 
as  he  would  to  guard  him  against  the  use  of  opium 
or  the  incursions  of  tuberculosis. 


CHAPTER  XV 
HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE 

"If  a  man  is  not  familiar  with  the  Bible  he  has  suffered 
a  loss  which  he  had  better  make  all  possible  haste  to  cor 
rect." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

All  Scripture  is  ...  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof, 
for  amendment,  for  moral  discipline,  to  make  the  man  of 
God  proficient  and  equip  him  for  good  work  of  every  kind. 
2  Tim.  3.  16,  17  (Moffatt's  translation). 

WHEN  he  was  forty-two  years  of  age,  or 
twenty-one  years  after  his  graduation 
from  Harvard,  Mr.  Koosevelt  was  inau 
gurated  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  On 
that  occasion  the  Harvard  Republican  Club  pre 
sented  him  with  an  appropriately  inscribed  copy  of 
the  Bible.  After  his  death  Mrs.  Roosevelt  sent  the 
American  Bible  Society  a  photograph  of  that  Bible 
with  the  comment  that  it  was  the  one  book  which 
Mr.  Roosevelt  always  "kept  at  his  hand  on  the  read 
ing  stand  in  the  north  room  at  Sagamore  Hill." 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  further  added  in  the  letter  to  the  So 
ciety  :  "I  should  like  the  world  to  know  how  large 
a  part  his  deep  knowledge  of  the  Bible  played  in  my 
husband's  life." 

Mrs.  Robinson  told  me  about  the  "pigskin"  library 
which  Mr.  Roosevelt  carried  to  Africa,  saying : 

When  my  brother  decided  to  make  the  African  trip  I 
requested  the  privilege  of  furnishing  a  pigskin  bound  li- 

305 


306  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

brary  for  him  to  take  along.  The  first  book  selected  for 
this  library  was  the  Bible;  he  could  not  do  without  that 
book.  He  read  it  a  great  deal.  He  counted  it  a  literary 
masterpiece.  He  also  read  it  for  inspiration  and  conso 
lation. 

In  1901  Mr.  Roosevelt  entertained  the  Long  Island 
Bible  Society  at  Ms  home  in  Oyster  Bay  and  deliv 
ered  an  address  on  "The  Influence  of  the  Bible."  It 
is  so  characteristically  compact  and  so  valuable  that 
it  is  repeated  here  quite  fully : 

Every  thinking  man,  when  he  thinks,  realizes  what  a  very 
large  number  of  people  tend  to  forget,  that  the  teachings  of 
the  Bible  are  so  interwoven  and  entwined  with  our  whole 
civic  and  social  life  that  it  would  be  literally — I  do  not 
mean  figuratively,  I  mean  literally — impossible  for  us  to 
figure  to  ourselves  what  that  life  would  be  if  these  teach 
ings  were  removed.  We  would  lose  almost  all  the  standards 
by  which  we  now  judge  both  public  and  private  morals; 
all  the  standards  toward  which  we,  with  more  or  less  of 
resolution,  strive  to  raise  ourselves.  Almost  every  man 
who  has  by  his  lifework  added  to  the  sum  of  human  achieve 
ment  of  which  the  race  is  proud,  has  based  his  lifework 
largely  upon  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  .  .  .  Among  the 
greatest  men  a  disproportionately  large  number  have  been 
diligent  and  close  students  of  the  Bible  at  first  hand. 

He  refers  to  Lincoln's  study  of  and  indebtedness 
to  the  Bible,  and  his  industry  in  reading  it  until  he 
became  a  "man  of  one  book" : 

Lincoln,  sad,  patient,  kindly  Lincoln,  who  after  bearing 
upon  his  weary  shoulders  for  four  years  a  greater  burden 
than  that  borne  by  any  other  man  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
laid  down  his  life  for  the  people  whom  living  he  had  served 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE  307 

so  well,  built  up  his  entire  reading  upon  his  early  study  of 
the  Bible.  He  had  mastered  it  absolutely;  mastered  it  as 
later  he  mastered  only  one  or  two  other  books,  notably 
Shakespeare;  mastered  it  so  that  he  became  almost  "a  man 
of  one  book,"  who  knew  that  book,  and  who  instinctively 
put  into  practice  what  he  had  been  taught  therein;  and  he 
left  his  life  as  part  of  the  crowning  work  of  the  century 
that  has  now  passed. 

He  insists  that  intellectual  training  alone  is  not 
sufficient : 

A  man  whose  intellect  has  been  educated,  while  at  the 
same  time  his  moral  education  has  been  neglected,  is  only 
the  more  dangerous  to  the  community  because  of  the  ex 
ceptional  additional  power  which  he  has  acquired.  ...  It  is 
a  good  thing  to  be  clever,  to  be  able  and  smart,  but  it  is  a 
better  thing  to  have  the  qualities  that  find  their  expression 
in  the  Decalogue  and  the  Golden  Rule.  It  is  a  good  and 
necessary  thing  to  be  intelligent;  it  is  a  better  thing  to  be 
straight  and  decent  and  fearless. 

He  declared  that  the  Bible  enforces  a  personal  ob 
ligation  which  is  measured  by  one's  ability: 

You  may  look  through  the  Bible  from  cover  to  cover,  and 
nowhere  will  you  find  a  line  that  can  be  construed  into  an 
apology  for  the  man  of  brains  who  sins  against  the  light. 
On  the  contrary,  in  the  Bible,  taking  that  as  a  guide,  you 
will  find  that  because  much  has  been  given  you,  much  will 
be  exptected  from  you;  and  a  heavier  condemnation  is 
visited  upon  the  able  man  who  goes  wrong  than  upon  his 
weaker  brother  who  cannot  do  the  harm  that  the  other 
does  because  it  is  not  in  him  to  do  it. 

He  then  quotes  a  description  of  the  Bible  given  by 
Huxley,  who  describes  it  as  a  literary  gem,  a  civilizer, 


308  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

a  giver  of  world  visions,  an  insurance  for  freedom 
and  a  teacher  of  responsibility : 

One  of  the  highest  tributes  of  modern  times  to  the  worth 
of  the  Bible  came  from  the  great  scientist  Huxley,  who 
said:  "Consider  the  great  historical  fact  that  for  three 
centuries  the  Book  has  been  woven  into  the  life  of  all  that 
is  noblest  and  best  in  our  history,  and  that  it  has  become 
the  national  epic  of  our  race;  that  it  is  written  in  the  no 
blest  and  purest  English,  and  abounds  in  exquisite  beauties 
of  mere  literary  form;  and  finally  that  it  forbids  the  veriest 
hind  who  never  left  his  village  to  be  ignorant  of  the  ex 
istence  of  other  countries  and  other  civilization  and  of  a 
great  past,  stretching  back  to  the  furthest  limits  of  the 
oldest  nations  in  the  world.  By  the  study  of  what  other 
book  could  children  be  so  much  humanized  and  made  to 
feel  that  each  figure  in  that  vast  historical  procession  fills, 
like  themselves,  but  a  momentary  space  in  the  interval 
between  the  eternities?  The  Bible  has  been  the  Magna 
Charta  of  the  poor  and  of  the  oppressed.  Down  to  modern 
times  no  State  has  had  a  constitution  in  which  the  interests 
of  the  people  are  so  largely  taken  into  account,  in  which 
the  duties,  so  much  more  than  the  privileges,  of  rulers  are 
insisted  upon,  as  that  drawn  up  for  Israel  in  Deuteronomy 
and  Leviticus.  Nowhere  is  the  fundamental  truth  that  the 
welfare  of  the  state,  in  the  long  run,  depends  upon  the 
righteousness  of  the  citizen  so  strongly  laid  down.  The 
Bible  is  the  most  democratic  book  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  affirms  that  the  Bible  aids  good 
taste  in  reading,  which  aid  he  opines  is  greatly 
needed  when  the  level  of  literary  taste  was  so  no 
ticeably  low : 

There  is  the  unceasing  influence  it  exerts  on  the  side  of 
good  taste,  of  good  literature,  of  proper  sense  of  proportion, 
of  simple  and  straightforward  writing  and  thinking.  This 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE  309 

is  not  a  small  matter  in  an  age  when  there  is  a  tendency 
to  read  much  that,  even  if  not  actually  harmful  on  moral 
grounds,  is  yet  injurious,  because  it  presents  slipshod, 
slovenly  thought  and  work;  not  the  kind  of  serious  thought, 
of  serious  expression,  which  we  like  to  see  in  anything  that 
goes  into  the  fiber  of  our  character. 

He  pleads  for  a  closer  study  of  a  book  that  will 
spur  one  to  strong  endeavor  to  make  the  world 
better : 

If  we  read  the  Bible  aright,  we  read  a  book  which  teaches 
us  to  go  forth  and  do  the  work  of  the  Lord;  to  do  the  work 
of  the  Lord  in  the  world  as  we  find  it;  to  try  to  make  things 
better  in  this  world,  even  if  only  a  little  better  because  we 
have  lived  in  it.  ...  We  plead  for  a  closer  and  wider  and 
deeper  study  of  the  Bible,  so  that  our  people  may  be  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  theory,  "doers  of  the  word  and  not  hearers 
only." 

He  exhibited  real  skill  in  studying  and  teaching 
the  Bible,  which  will  be  seen  from  the  outline  pre 
pared,  with  his  own  hand  and  appearing  herewith. 
(See  page  310.) 

It  will  be  interesting  to  read  the  verses  and  see 
how  sturdy  and  stimulating  they  are  as  well  as  alive 
with  exhortation. 

The  Rev.  W.  I.  Bowman,  while  pastor  of  the  Meth 
odist  Church  at  Oyster  Bay,  had  invited  Mr.  Koose- 
velt  to  address  his  brotherhood.  He  promptly  agreed 
to  do  so  and,  of  course,  the  church  was  crowded,  as 
was  the  space  outside.  The  President  arrived  on 
time  and  brought  his  own  Bible  with  him.  He  read 
as  a  Scripture  lesson  1  Cor.  13,  the  chapter  which 
Henry  Druminond  used  as  the  basis  for  his  book, 
The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World,  which  deals  with 


310 


KOOSEVELT'S  KELIGION 


ROOSEVELT  TALKS 
TO  HEN'S  SOCIETY 

Christian  Brotherhood  of  Oyster 
Bay  as  His  Audience. 

"REAL  ESSENCE  OF  LIFE." 


Two  Hundred  Gather  to  Hear  Him  at  the 
Methodist  CTiurch— Bringing  with  Him 
His  Own  Bible,  the  President  Drives 
Down  from  Sagamore  Hill— Selecting 
Ills  Texts  from  Mathew  and  James, 
He  Takes  the  Words  "Judge  Not  Lest 
Ye  Be  Judged"  as  the  Burden  of  His 
Address— Progress  of  Oar  Country 
Depends  Upon  the  Sum  of  Efforts  of  In 
dividuals  Acting  by  Themselves, He  Says 

OTSTER  BAY,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  7.— President 
Hoosevelt  to-day,  in  response  to  an  invita 
tion  of  long  standing,  delivered  a  talk  tant- 
mount  to  a,  sermon  before  the  Christian 
Brotherhood  here,  a  non-sectarian  organi 
zation  of  men  that  meets  in  the  Sunday 
school  room  of  the  Methodist  ohurch. 

His  subject  was  "The  Real  Essence  of 
Genuine  Christian  Life  and  Character," 
*md  the  text  he  moat  dwelt  on  was  "Judge 
not.  that  ye  be  not  judged." 

The  invitation  was  extended  to  the  Presi 
dent  by  the  brotherhood  several  weeks  ago 
through  -the  Rev.  Charles  S.  Weight  man, 
the  chairman  of  its  committee  on  religous 
cervices  and  speakers.  It  was  not  until 
0  o'clock  Saturday  night  that  the  chairman 
and  Rev.  W.  I.  Bowman,  the  minister  of  the 
Methodist  church  and  president  of  the 
brotherhood,  were  notified  that  the  Presi 
dent  would  come  at  4  o'clock  yesterday 
afternoon. 

Although  kept  a  secret  as  far  as  possible, 
the  news  spread' and  the  usual  attendance 
of  seventy-five  was  swelled  to  200,  which  is 
remarkable  for  Oyster  Bay. 


The  President  drove  down  Irom  Saga 
more  Hill,  attended  by  Secret  Service 
Agent  Sloane.  He  had  his  own  Bible  with 
him  and  he  selected  his  texts  chiefly  from 
Matthew  7  and  26  and  from  the  eplntle  of 
James,  expounding  text  after  text.  Ho  was 
presented  by  the  Rev.  W  I.  Bowman.  The 
President's  address  was  as  follows. 

"Brother  Bowman  nas  spoken  of  the  fact 
that  I  have  had  a  large  experience.  I 
think  that  each  one  of  us  who  baa  a  large 
experience  grows  to  realize  more  and  more 
that  the  essentials  of  experience  are  alike 
for  all  of  us.  The  things  that  move  us 
most  are  the  things  of  the  home,  of  the 
Church;  the  intimate  relations  that  knit  a 
man  to  his  family,  to  his  close  friends; 
that  make  him  try  to  do  bis  duty  by  his 
neighbor,  by  his  God  are  in  their  essen 
tials  just  the  game  for  one  man  as  for 
another,  provided  the  man  is  in  good  faith 
trying  to  do  his  duty. 

"I  feel  that  th£  progress  of  our  country 
really  depends  upon  the  sum  of  the  efforts 
of  the  individuals  acting  by  themselves, 
but  especially  upou  tho  sum  of  the  efforts 
of  the  individuals  acting  in  associations 
like  this  for  the  betterment  of  themselves, 
for  the  betterment  of  tho  communities  in 
which  they  dwell.  There  is  never  any 
difficulty  about  the  forces  of  evil  being 
organized.  Every  time  that  we  get  an 
organization  of  the  forces  that  are  painfully 
striving  for  good,  an  organization  like  this, 
we  are  doing  our  fart  to  offset,  and  a  little 
more  than  offset,  the  forces  of  evil. 

"1  want  to  read  several  different  texta 
which  it  seems  to  me  have  especial  bearing 
upon  the  work  of  bix>therhoods  like  this— 
upon  the  spirit  in  which  not  only  all  of  us 
who  are  members  of  this  brotherhood,  but 
all  of  us  who  strive  to  be  decent  Christians 
are- to  apply  our  Christianity  on  weekdays 
as  well  as  on  Sundays.  The  first  verses 
I  want  to  read  can  be  found  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  Matthew,  the  first  and  sixteenth 
.verges. 

"First,  'Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged.' 
Sixteenth,  'Ye  shall  know  them  by  their 
fruita.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns, 
or  figs  of  thistles?  Even  BO  every  good  tree 
bringeth  forth  good  fruit,  but  a  corrupt 
tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  A  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a 
comiDt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit.' 

"  'Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged.'  That 
means,  treat  each  of  us  his  brethren  with 
charity.  Be  not  quick  to  find  fault.  Above 
all  be  not  quick  to  judge  another  man  who 
according  to  his  light  is  striving  to  dp  his 
duty  as  each  of  us  nere  hopes  he  is  striving 
to  do  his.  Let  us  ever  remember  that  we 
have  not  only  divine  authority  for  the 
statement  that  by  our  fruits  we  ehall  be 
known!  but  that  also  it  is  true  that  man 
kind  will  tend  to  judge  us  by  our  fruita. 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE 


311 


"It  la  an  especially  lamentable  thing  to 
gee  ill  done  by  any  man  who  from  his  asso 
ciations  with  the  Church,  who  from  the  fact 
that  he  has  had  the  priceless  benefits  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Christian  religion. 
should  be  expected  to  take  a  position  or 
leadership  In  the  work  for  good. 

"The  next  quotation  I  wish  to  read  to 
you  is  found  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of 
Matthew,  thirty-seventh  to  fortieth  verses, 
inclusive:  'Then  shall  the  righteous  answer 
Him,  saying.  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  a 
hungered,  and  fed  thee,  or  thirsty  and  gave 
thee  drink. 

*  'When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger  and  took 
thee  in,  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee. 

"  'Or  when  saw  we  the  sick,  or  in  nrison, 
and  came  unto  thee. 

"And  tne  King  shall  answer  and  say  unto 
them,  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  aa 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  my 
brethren  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

"That  is  what  this  brotherhood  means, 
by  trying  to  worship  our  Creator  by  acting 
toward  his  creatures  as  he  would  nave  us 
act;  to  try  to  make  our  religion  a  living 
force  in  our  lives;  to  do  unto  others  as  we 
would  Jjav*  them  do  unto  UK. 

"The  nexFtext  I  wish  (o  read  is  found  in 
I.  Corinthians,  xiii.  chapter,  beginning  with 
with 


the 


the  first  verse      "Though  I  speak  w 
tongues  of  man  and  of  angels,  and  have 
not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass, 
or  a  tinkling  cymbal.' 

"And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy; 
and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowl 
edge;  and  though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I 
could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing. 

"  'And  though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to 
feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body 
to  be  burned  and  have  not  charity,  it 
profiteth  me  nothing.  Charity  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind,  charity  envieth  not, 
charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up.' 

•  'Ahd  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity, 
these  three,  but  the  greatest  of  these  is 
charity  • 

"Lot  each  of  us  exercise  the  largest  tole 
rance  for  his  brother  who  is  trying,  though 
in  a  different  way,  to  lead  a  decent  life; 
who  is  trying  to  do  good  in  his  own  fashion; 
let,  each  try  to  show  practical  sympathy 
*?Uh  that  brother;  not  be  too-  quick  to 
criticize. 

•In  Closing  1  want  to  read  juit  a  few? 
verses  from  the  epistle  of  James  from  the 
first  chapter,  twenty-seventh  verse: 

"  'Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before 
God  and  the  father  is  this.  To  visit  the 
fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction 
and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the 
world  '  • 


"If  a  man  will  try  to  servo  God  the  Father 
by  being  kindly  to  the  many  around  him 
who  need  such  kindness  and  by  being 
upright  and  honest  himself,  then  we  have 
the  authorfy  of  tho  (Jood  Book  for  saying 
that  we  are  in  honor  bound  to  treat  him 
as  a  good  Christian  and  extend  the  hand 
of  brotherhood  to  him." 

After  the  sermon  the  President  had  a 
reception  at  which  he  shook  hands  with 
every  one  present  and  then  asked  Mr.  Bow 
man  to  take  him  to  Mrs.  Bowman  in  the 
parsonage  next  door  to  the  church,  with 
whom  he  wished  to  shake  hands.  He  com 
plimented  the  Bowman's  on  the  new  par- 
eonege  just  completed.  Then  the  Presi 
dent  drove  back  to  Sagamore  Hill  about  5:15. 

The  President's  visitors  yesterday  were 
William  Wilmer  and  J.  B.  Bishop  of  New 
York,  his  personal  friends. 


ine  President  did  not  go  to  Christ 
Church,  the  little  Episcopal  Church  he 
usually  attends.  His  family,  however, 
were  there. 

The  Rev.  Homer  H.  Washburne  of  Christ 
Church  preached  a  missionary  sermon, 
saying  that  we  Americans  do  not  suf 
ficiently  attend  to  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen.  Our  immigration  laws  are  such 
that  they  da  not  permit  sufficient  numbers 
of  heathen  to  come  in  arid  so  we  miss  the 
chance  of  converting  them.  The  Rev 
Mr.  Washburne  also  prayed  for  a  lasting 
peace. 


312  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

love.  It  opens  with,  "Though  I  speak  with  the 
tongues  of  men  and  angels  and  have  not  charity 
[love],  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  or  as  a  tink 
ling  cymbal.7'  It  ends  with,  "And  now  abideth  faith, 
hope,  charity  [love],  these  three,  and  the  greatest  of 
these  is  charity  [love]."  He  then  read  and  com 
mented  on  each  passage  of  Scripture  in  the  order  of 
the  outline.  The  New  York  Sun  reported  the  address 
at  the  time  (see  pages  310  and  311). 

Calvin  B.  Velsor,  a  local  citizen,  asked  President 
Roosevelt  for  the  "outline,"  and  he  signed  it  and 
presented  it  to  Mr.  Velsor,  who  loaned  outline  (see 
p.  310)  and  the  above  newspaper  clipping  to  the 
writer. 

In  1911  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  had  just  returned  from 
Africa,  agreed  to  give  the  Earl  Lectures  delivered 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Pacific  Theological  Semi 
nary,  located  at  Berkeley,  California.  The  founda 
tion  declares  that  the  lectures  are  to  "aid  in  securing 
at  the  University  of  California  the  presentation  of 
Christian  truth."  They  were  delivered  in  the  Greek 
Theater,  which  seats  many  thousands,  while  other 
thousands  stood  on  the  hillsides.  The  American 
Bible  Society,  which  was  celebrating  the  Tercente 
nary  of  the  King  James  Version,  requested  Mr. 
Roosevelt  to  take  the  Bible  as  the  subject  for  one  of 
the  five  lectures.  He  agreed  and  his  third  lecture 
was  titled,  "The  Bible  and  the  Life  of  the  People." 
The  whole  course  of  lectures  was  called  Realizable 
Ideals  and  is  published  under  that  title  by  Whitaker 
&  Ray-Wiggin  Co.,  San  Francisco.  Some  material 
in  the  lecture  was  used  in  the  Long  Island  address 


K// 


/K  // 


MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  OUTLINE  OF  A  TALK  GIVEN  TO 
A  BIBLE  CLASS  IN  OYSTER  BAY. 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE          313 

on  the  Bible  just  reported  and  hence  those  sections 
are  not  repeated  here.  He  first  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  the  Bible  had  preserved  our  fathers  from  a 
moral  decline  and  had  spurred  them  for  and  pre 
served  our  purpose  in  making  ethical  advances: 

I  have  come  here  to-day,  in  the  course  of  a  series  of 
lectures  upon  applied  ethics,  upon  realizable  ideals,  to 
speak  of  the  book  to  which  our  people  owe  infinitely  the 
greater  part  of  their  store  of  ethics,  infinitely  the  greater 
part  of  their  knowledge  of  how  to  apply  that  store  to  the 
needs  of  our  everyday  life. 

The  Vulgate  version  gave  the  Bible  in  Latin,  the  tongue 
of  learning  of  the  peoples  of  the  West  at  a  time  when  the 
old  classic  civilization  of  Greece  and  Rome  had  first  crum 
bled  to  rottenness  and  had  then  been  overwhelmed  by  the 
barbarian  sea.  In  the  wreck  of  the  Old  World,  Christianity 
was  all  that  the  survivors  had  to  cling  to;  and  the  Latin 
version  of  the  Bible  put  it  at  their  disposal. 

He  affirms  that  the  Bible  should  be  in  every  home : 

The  great  debt  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  every 
where  is  to  the  translation  of  the  Bible  that  we  all  know — 
I  trust  I  can  say,  all  here  know — in  our  own  homes,  the 
Bible  as  it  was  put  forth  in  English  three  centuries  ago. 
No  other  book  of  any  kind  ever  written  in  English — perhaps 
no  other  book  ever  written  in  any  other  tongue — has  ever 
so  affected  the  whole  life  of  a  people  as  this  authorized 
(King  James)  version  of  the  Scriptures  has  affected  the 
life  of  the  English-speaking  peoples. 

The  man  who  substitutes  the  Sunday  newspaper 
for  the  Bible  classifies  himself  among  those  with  a 
low  type  of  intelligence: 

What  could  interest  men  who  find  the  Bible  dull?  The 
Sunday  newspaper?  Think  of  the  difference  there  must  be 


314  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

in  the  mental  make-up  of  the  man  whose  chief  reading  in 
cluded  the  one,  as  compared  with  the  man  whose  chief 
reading  is  represented  by  the  other — the  vulgarity,  the 
shallowness,  the  inability  to  keep  the  mind  fixed  on  any 
serious  subject,  which  is  implied  in  the  mind  of  any  man 
who  cannot  read  the  Bible  and  yet  can  take  pleasure  in 
reading  only  literature  of  the  type  of  the  colored  supplement 
of  the  Sunday  paper!  Now  I  am  not  speaking  against  the 
colored  supplement  of  any  paper  in  its  place;  but  as  a 
substitute  for  serious  reading  of  the  great  Book  it  repre 
sents  a  type  of  mind  which  it  is  gross  flattery  merely  to 
call  shallow. 

It  fits  one  to  count  in  life :  "I  make  my  appeal  not 
only  to  professing  Christians,"  but  to  every  man  who 

faces  life  with  the  real  desire  not  only  to  get  out  of  it  what 
is  best  but  to  do  his  part  in  everything  that  tells  for  the 
ennobling  and  uplifting  of  humanity. 

The  world  needs  the  spiritual  stimulus  of  the 
"Book" : 

I  am  making  a  plea,  not  only  for  the  training  of  the  mind, 
but  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  training  of  the  home  and 
the  church,  and  moral  and  spiritual  training  that  has  always 
been  in,  and  has  ever  accompanied,  the  study  of  the  book 
which  in  almost  every  civilized  tongue,  and  in  many  an 
uncivilized,  can  be  described  as  tlie  Book  with  the  certainty 
of  having  the  description  understood  by  all  listeners. 

He  gives  the  following  incident  from  foreign  mis 
sions  to  illustrate  the  transforming  power  of  Bible 
truth : 

A  year  and  a  quarter  ago  I  was  passing  on  foot  through 
the  native  kingdom  of  Uganda  in  Central  Africa.  Uganda 
is  the  most  highly  developed  of  the  pure  Negro  states  in 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE  315 

Africa.  It  is  the  state  which  has  given  the  richest  return 
for  missionary  labor.  It  now  contains  some  half  million  of 
Christians,  the  direction  of  the  government  being  in  the 
hands  of  those  Christians.  I  was  interested  to  find  that 
in  their  victorious  fight  against,  in  the  first  place,  heathen 
dom,  and  in  the  next  place,  Moslemism,  the  native  Catho 
lics  and  Protestants  had  taken  as  their  symbol  "the  Book," 
sinking  all  minor  differences  among  themselves,  and  com 
ing  together  on  the  common  ground  of  their  common  belief 
in  "the  Book"  that  was  the  most  precious  gift  the  white 
man  had  brought  to  them. 


Mere  reading  of  "the  Book"  is  not  sufficient : 

I  would  rather  not  see  a  man  study  it  at  all  than  have  him 
read  it  as  a  fetish  on  Sunday  and  disregard  its  teachings 
on  all  other  days  of  the  week. 


Mr.  Koosevelt  closes  his  wonderful  lecture  with 
the  declaration  that  true  helpfulness  can  only  come 
from  following  the  example  of  Christ: 

Our  success  in  striving  to  help  our  fellow  men  and  there 
fore  to  help  ourselves,  depends  largely  upon  our  success  as 
we  strive,  with  whatever  shortcomings,  with  whatever  fail 
ures,  to  lead  our  lives  in  accordance  with  the  great  ethical 
principles  laid  down  in  the  life  of  Christ  and  in  the  New 
Testament  writings  which  seek  to  expound  and  apply  his 
teachings. 

As  shown  in  other  places,  Mr.  Roosevelt  began  to 
memorize  the  Bible  when  he  was  three  years  of  age 
and  helped  teach  his  own  children  to  memorize  in 
the  same  way.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  told  a  friend  that  he 
carried  the  Bible  so  thoroughly  in  his  mind  that  he 
could  quote  large  sections  of  it. 


316  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Julian  Ralph  once  asked  Mr.  Roosevelt,  "What 
did  you  expect  to  be  or  dream  of  being  when  you  were 
a  boy?"  And  he  replied,  quoting  Scripture: 

I  do  not  recollect  that  I  dreamed  at  all  or  planned  at  all. 
I  simply  obeyed  the  injunction,  "Whatever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  with  all  thy  might,"  and  so  I  took  up  what  came 
along  as  it  came.  Since  then  I  have  gone  on  Lincoln's  motto, 
"Do  the  best;  if  not,  then  the  best  possible." 

In  his  Pacific  Theological  Lectures,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
after  quoting  a  sentence  from  Huxley  giving  a  high 
estimate  of  the  value  of  training  children  in  Bible 
knowledge,  pauses,  and  before  continuing  with  Hux 
ley's  further  statement  says: 

I  am  quoting  not  a  professed  Christian,  but  a  scientific 
man  whose  scientific  judgment  is  thus  expressed  as  to  the 
value  of  biblical  training  for  the  young. 

In  his  Long  Island  lecture  he  severely  condemns 
the  practice  in  some  homes  of  punishing  children  by 
compelling  them  to  commit  long  passages  of  Scrip 
ture  such  as  sections  of  Isaiah  where  he  "learns  it 
as  a  disagreeable  task  and  in  his  mind  that  splendid 
and  lofty  poem  and  prophecy  is  forever  afterward 
associated  with  an  uncomfortable  feeling  of  dis 
grace."  Continuing,  he  says:  "You  can  devise  no 
surer  method  of  making  a  child  revolt  against  all  the 
wonderful  beauty  and  truth  of  Holy  Writ." 

He  also  forewarns  adults  to  be  careful  lest  they 
give  children  false  ideas  about  the  Bible  phrases. 
He  illustrates  it  by  the  story  of  a  little  grandson  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Adams,  who  was  very  much  afraid  of 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE          317 

entering  his  grandfather's  church  when  it  was  emp 
tied  of  people.  On  questioning  him  they  found,  said 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  that  he  had  heard  his  grandfather 
repeat  the  text,  "The  zeal  of  thy  house  hath  eaten  me 
up,"  and  he  was  sure  that  "zeal"  was  some  kind  of  a 
man-eating  beast  that  dwelt  in  churches  and  would 
catch  him  if  unprotected. 

He  took  time  to  tell  his  own  children  Bible  stories 
and  encouraged  them  to  use  their  own  imagination 
after  they  understood  the  facts,  for  he  declares :  "I 
do  not  think  that  it  is  ordinarily  necessary  to  ex 
plain  the  simple  and  beautiful  stories  of  the  Bible; 
children  understand  readily  the  lessons  taught 
therein." 

In  a  letter  to  Miss  Carow  he  related  an  incident 
when  he  had  told  the  children  the  story  of  Joseph. 
They  immediately  recognized  that  it  was  both  foolish 
and  contrary  to  the  instruction  they  had  received  for 
Joseph  to  irritate  his  brothers  by  telling  his  egotistic 
dreams.  They  had  been  reading  the  adventures  of 
the  Golly wogs,  and  Kermit,  drawing  an  analogy, 
commented  about  Joseph,  "Well,  I  guess  he  was 
simple,  like  Jane  in  the  Gollywogs,"  and  Ethel 
nodded  gravely  in  confirmation. 

Nothing  will  uncover  the  meaning  of  a  section  of 
Scripture  so  certainly  as  an  effort  to  teach  it  to 
others.  Mr.  Roosevelt  doubtless  found  that  out  and 
so  he  writes  Ethel : 

I  am  really  pleased  that  you  are  going  to  teach  Sunday 
school.  I  think  I  told  you  that  I  taught  it  for  seven  years, 
most  of  the  time  in  a  mission  class,  my  pupils  being  of  a 
kind  which  furnished  me  plenty  of  vigorous  excitement. 


318  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

"Bill"  Sewall  told  me  that  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was 
a  young  lad  he  was  an  earnest  Bible  student,  and 
said: 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  only  eighteen  and  came  to  my 
Maine  camp  he  would  go  off  by  himself  on  Sunday  to  an 
isolated  point  and  take  his  Bible  so  that  he  could  read  it 
without  anyone  bothering  him.  Because  of  this  custom  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  his  fellow  campers  afterward  called  that 
spot  "Bible  Point."  He  had  a  Bible  on  the  ranch  in  the 
early  days  and  read  it  regularly.  He  was  an  extensive 
reader  of  the  Bible.  I  guess  he  found  it,  as  I  did,  a  source 
of  real  common  sense.  He  would  quote  it  frequently  in  con 
versation  and  always  to  fit  the  case  in  point.  He  read  the 
Bible  to  find  the  right  way  and  then  how  to  do  it.  Some 
folks  read  it  to  find  an  easier  way  into  heaven — "to  climb 
up  some  other  way."  He  always  carried  a  Bible  or  Testa 
ment  with  him  in  the  early  days.  While  on  the  ranch  he 
had  a  Bible  and  frequently  carried  it  with  him  and  read  it 
regularly. 

Both  Mr.  Leary  and  Mr.  O'Laughlin  recall  hearing 
Mr.  Roosevelt  heartily  commend  the  Gideons  for 
putting  the  Bible  in  the  hotels,  and  Mr.  Leary  saw 
him  pick  up  one  in  his  room,  thus  placed,  and  read 
it  with  close  interest.  Mr.  McGrath  said,  "Mr.  Roose 
velt  frequently  declared  that  the  Bible  was  more  in 
teresting  than  any  book  of  fiction  ever  written,  and 
he  appeared  to  enjoy  reading  it  as  well." 

Wade  Ellis,  whom  President  Roosevelt  selected  to 
break  up  the  greedy  "Trusts,"  told  the  writer: 

One  day  I  mentioned  "Naaman"  in  one  of  our  conferences. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  immediately  said,  "Oh,  he  was  the  man  who 
went  to  Israel  to  get  help  from  their  religion  and  a  servant 
tried  afterward  to  capitalize  Naaman's  gratitude  to  collect 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE 


graft."  He  was  the  only  man  there  who  recognized  Naa- 
man.  I  had  specialized  for  years  in  Bible  study  but  could 
never  make  a  reference  he  did  not  understand. 

In  answering  a  request  as  to  what  books  a  states 
man  should  read,  he  once  said  :  "Poetry  and  novels, 
but  not  these  alone.  If  he  cannot  enjoy  the  Hebrew 
prophets  and  the  Greek  dramatists,  he  should  be 
sorry." 

Dr.  Lambert,  describing  the  root  and  depth  of  Mr. 
Koosevelt's  interest  in  the  Bible,  said  to  me  : 

Mr.  Roosevelt  read  the  Old  Testament  as  real  history. 
He  saw  and  felt  the  battles  as  genuine  contests  and  recog 
nized  the  fact  that  righteousness  forearmed  the  successful. 
The  plagues  described  were  not  fictional,  for  numerous  simi 
lar  ones  have  occurred  in  history.  He  always  found  in 
tense  personal  interest  in  the  Bible  because  he  was  looking 
for  some  direction  or  truth  to  employ.  Things  other  men 
would  pass  by  he  would  see.  He  was  greatly  attracted  by  a 
study  of  the  prophets  in  late  years  because  he  felt  it  his 
call  to  arouse  his  own  nation  to  take  up  her  duties  in  the 
war  and  along  other  righteous  lines.  He  was  burdened 
with  his  "message"  even  as  were  the  prophets  of  old. 

Mr.  Koosevelt  based  his  "preparedness"  appeal  on 
Ezekiel  thirty-three.  He  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  cry 
out  against  the  nation's  sloth  and  selfishness  if  he 
avoided  the  guilt  of  a  prophet  who  sees  danger  but 
will  not  speak  the  warning.  "But  if  the  watchman 
see  the  sword  come  and  blow  not  the  trumpet,  .  .  . 
his  blood  will  I  require  at  the  watchman's  hands" 
(Ezek.  33.  6).  In  speaking  of  his  contest  with  dis 
honest  politicians  in  his  Autobiography,  he  refers 
to  the  fact  that  the  "creed  of  mere  materialism" 


320  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

prevalent  in  American  politics  and  business  for 
thirty  years  after  the  Civil  War  led  many  to  do 
things  for  which  they  "deserve  blame  and  condemna 
tion" — though  done  in  accord  with  "prevailing  po 
litical  and  commercial  morality."  But  if  they  sin 
cerely  change,  he  declares,  and  strive  for  better 
things,  they  should  be  encouraged.  He  continues : 

So  long  as  they  work  for  evil,  smite  them  with  the  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon!  When  they  change  and  show 
their  faith  by  their  works,  remember  the  words  of  Ezekiel: 
"If  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  the  sins  he  has  committed, 
...  he  shall  not  die." 

Mr.  Thayer  vividly  describes  the  scene  at  the 
Chicago  Convention  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  de 
feated  for  the  nomination.  His  supporters  gathered 
in  the  Auditorium  and  gave  vent  to  their  bitter  dis 
appointment  and  their  steadfast  loyalty  to  him. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  came  into  the  meeting  and  poured 
himself  out  in  a  "torrential  speech"  which  would 
arouse  their  passions  instead  of  appeal  to  their 
minds,  says  Mr.  Thayer,  and  continues,  "But  it  fitly 
symbolized  the  situation.  He,  the  dauntless  leader, 
stood  there,  the  soul  of  sincerity  and  courage,  im 
pressing  upon  them  all  that  they  were  engaged  in  a 
most  solemn  cause."  Then  he  ended  the  challenge 
with  the  words,  "We  stand  at  Armageddon  and  we 
battle  for  the  Lord."  This  Scripture  reference  is 
found  in  Revelation,  and  pictures  the  forces  of 
righteousness  standing  against  the  forces  of  evil.  It 
carried  as  could  no  other  Bible  phrase  the  exact 
situation  as  Mr.  Roosevelt  sensed  and  described  it. 


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HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE  321 

It  put  the  audience  into  an  atmosphere  above  ma 
terialism  and  prepared  them  as  warriors  in  their 
contest  to  sing,  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers." 
Mr.  Thompson  said  to  me: 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  afraid  to  use  the  Scriptures  in  the  Old 
Party  days,  lest  the  leaders  misunderstand  and  suspect  him 
of  hypocrisy,  but  when  the  spirituality  of  men  was  brought 
to  the  surface  by  the  sacrifices  and  moral  issues  of  the  Pro 
gressive  contest,  then  the  long-treasured  Scripture  came  to 
the  surface  and  caught  a  return  feeling  from  the  other 
spiritually  minded  men. 

As  before  shown,  Mr.  Koosevelt  was  constantly 
repeating  Micah  6.  8  as  containing  his  creed.  The 
New  York  Bible  Society  asked  Mr.  Koosevelt  to  write 
a  message  to  be  put  into  the  copies  of  the  New  Testa 
ment  which  were  presented  to  the  soldier  boys  go 
ing  to  the  front.  For  this  purpose  he  selected  his 
favorite  Scripture  and  applied  it  as  follows : 

The  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  are  foreshadowed  in 
Micah'a  verse:  "What  more  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee 
than  to  do  justice,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God." 

Do  justice;  and  therefore  fight  valiantly  against  the 
armies  of  Germany  and  Turkey,  for  these  nations  in  this 
crisis  stand  for  the  reign  of  Moloch  and  Beelzebub  on  this 
earth. 

Love  mercy;  treat  prisoners  well;  succor  the  wounded; 
treat  every  woman  as  if  she  was  your  sister;  care  for  the 
little  children,  and  be  tender  with  the  old  and  helpless. 

Walk  humbly;  you  will  do  so  if  you  study  the  life  and 
teachings  of  the  Saviour. 

May  the   God   of  Justice   and  Mercy   have  you   in   His 

keeping. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
June  5,  1917. 


322  KOOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Such  an  interpretation  of  this  scripture  could  only 
be  possible  to  one  who  had  the  spirit  of  Him  who 
lives  in  the  Book  and  uncovers  its  truth  to  his  dis 
ciples. 

He  told  Tammany  when  he  ran  for  Governor  that 
if  elected  he  would  run  the  State  on  the  Ten  Com 
mandments.  He  styles  the  Bible  in  one  of  his  Cali 
fornia  lectures  "as  the  book  which  has  been  for  cen 
turies  the  great  guide  to  righteousness  and  clean 
living." 

Mr.  James  Morgan,  one  of  his  biographers,  wrote 
me:  "I  do  not  know  of  any  other  public  man  who 
has  made  so  much  use  of  the  Bible  texts  and  exam 
ples.  He  evidenced  a  wide  acquaintance  with  it." 

The  needs  of  the  poor  and  neglected  always  moved 
him  deeply.  His  own  ancestors  came  over  as  emi 
grants,  and  the  steamer  decks  crowded  with  these 
lonely  people  would  appeal  much  to  him.  The  Rev. 
E.  Robb  Zaring,  D.D.,  the  editor  of  the  Northwestern 
Christian  Advocate,  gave  me  the  following  incident : 

When  Dr.  Len  F.  Broughton,  a  noted  Baptist  minister, 
returned  from  England,  he  asked  the  purser  of  the  ship  if 
he  could  not  hold  a  service  for  the  steerage  passengers. 
The  purser  hesitated  but  finally  agreed.  After  it  was  over, 
Dr.  Broughton  called  on  the  purser,  and  the  latter,  after 
declaring  he  had  been  seventeen  years  a  purser  on  the 
seas,  said  that  this  was  only  the  second  time  he  had  granted 
a  request  for  a  service  in  the  steerage.  He  said:  "The  other 
time  it  was  not  a  minister  but  a  layman  who  made  the  re 
quest."  When  the  appointed  time  came  the  layman  took  his 
own  Bible,  read  several  passages  from  Holy  Writ,  prayed 
in  three  languages,  and  then  spoke  to  them  of  America  and 
gave  them  some  seasonable  advice,  as  to  their  future 


HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  BIBLE  323 

careers  in  this  country.  Who  was  the  layman?  He  had 
once  been  President  of  the  United  States — Theodore  Roose 
velt. 

The  Great  Teacher  said,  "Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  God.7'  That  as 
sertion  has  been  too  much  muddied  by  mysticism. 
It  is  literally  true.  Man  has  a  spiritual  nature  and 
he  needs  to  keep  it  cultivated  and  alert  if  he  enjoys 
a  full  life.  He  can  only  keep  his  sense  of  God's  near 
ness  very  real  and  his  own  mission  clear  as  he  does 
his  daily  tasks  when  he  worships  in  a  genuine  way. 
The  Bible  will  help  him  to  do  that  by  delineating  a 
God  of  love  and  understanding — by  outlining  ideals, 
by  bringing  to  him  dependable  reassurances,  ex 
hortations,  and  promises  and  always  in  due  season. 
The  Bible  is  fine  literature,  but  it  is  something  more, 
and  it  will  demonstrate  that  something  more  "to 
everyone  who  reads  it  with  a  teachable  and  honest 
heart."  It  does  indeed  contain  the  "bread  of  life." 


CHAPTER  XVI 
DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHUKCH? 

"Every  man  who  is  a  Christian  at  all  should  join  some 
church  organization." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

And  the  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily  such  as  should  be 
saved.— Acts  2.  47. 

RELIGION  was  as  natural  to  Mr.  Roosevelt 
as  breathing.    It  blended  with  his  whole  life 
as  color  does  with  the  rose.    He  did  not  need 
to  constantly  proclaim  its  presence  any  more  than 
he  did  his  sturdy  health.    And  yet  he  recognized  that 
it  made  requirements  as  certain  as  did  his  alert 
brain. 

He  exhibited  the  presence  of  religion  in  his  life 
in  deed  and  declaration  as  he  did  his  thought  in 
spoken  and  written  word.  But  he  also  just  as  cer 
tainly  gave  religion  credit  for  early  inspiration  and 
direction  as  he  did  Harvard  for  helping  him  prepare 
for  his  lifework.  When  necessary  and  opportune 
Mr.  Roosevelt  would  as  naturally  announce  himself 
to  be  a  Christian  as  he  would  that  he  was  a  loyal 
American.  He  was  not  satisfied  merely  to  give  evi 
dence  that  he  was  an  American  by  a  consistent  life, 
but  he  frequently  and  publicly  proclaimed  it.  But 
even  that  was  not  sufficient ;  he  further  affirmed  it  by 
joining  organizations  known  to  stand  for  pure  Amer- 

324 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?  325 

icanism  and  then  added  a  share  of  his  talents  to  make 
those  organizations  successful  in  spreading  Amer 
ican  doctrines.  Could  he  be  less  consistent  with  his 
religion?  No,  and  therefore  he  announced  himself 
a  Christian  by  joining  the  church  as  the  institution 
standing  for  the  Christian  religion  and  organized  to 
spread  it  in  all  the  world.  He  did  not  wait  for  an 
opportune  time,  but  facing  it  as  a  duty  he  acted. 

The  writer  visited  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Ludlow,  a  re 
tired  minister  living  at  East  Orange,  New  Jersey, 
and  he  told  the  story  of  receiving  Mr.  Roosevelt  into 
church  membership : 

Theodore  came  to  see  me  quite  frequently  as  a  boy.  He 
was  delicate-looking  but  very  plucky  and  full  of  grit.  The 
traits  shown  in  his  manhood  were  evident  as  a  boy.  He 
stuttered  some  when  talking.  When  about  sixteen  years  of 
age  he  came  into  my  study  looking  a  little  more  serious 
than  usual  and  said  that  he  wanted  to  talk  with  me  about 
a  personal  matter.  He  proceeded:  "You  know  how  care 
fully  I  have  been  instructed  in  the  Bible  and  in  Christian 
doctrine  in  my  home  by  my  father  and  devout  aunt  and 
mother.  I  believe  in  God  and  my  Saviour  and  in  the 
teachings  of  the  Bible  as  you  preach  them  and  as  taught 
in  my  home.  When  a  man  believes  a  thing  is  it  not  his  duty 
to  say  so?  If  I  joined  the  church,  wouldn't  that  be  the  best 
way  to  say  to  the  world  that  I  believed  in  God?"  He  was 
always  like  that — to  see  his  duty  was  to  do  it.  He  then 
asked  me  if  he  would  be  allowed  to  join  the  church.  I  told 
him  he  would  be  very  welcome.  My  "Board"  elected  him 
to  membership  on  my  approval,  and  a  few  days  afterward 
I  received  him  into  Saint  Nicholas  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
of  which  I  was  then  pastor. 

It  will  be  seen  that  he  wanted  to  announce  his 
faith  in  God  to  the  world  and  he  decided  that  the 


326  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

only  fair  and  full  way  to  do  that  was  to  join  the 
church.  His  name  was  never  removed  from  the 
records  of  that  church,  located  on  Fifth  Avenue  at 
Forty-eighth  Street. 

He  gladly  aligned  himself  with  church  people  when 
he  said  to  Dr.  Iglehart,  who  had  appealed  to  him  on 
a  moral  issue : 

You  know  full  well  that  on  moral  questions  the  church 
people  and  I  are  in  perfect  agreement.  Why?  I  am  one  of 
the  church  people  myself,  and  stand,  work  and  fight  for  the 
things  which  they  represent.  Our  personal  friendship  is 
the  outgrowth  of  our  mutual  support  of  the  things  for 
which  the  church  stands  (Iglehart,  p.  139). 

William  Allen  White  wrote  me:  "I  have  heard 
him  express  a  high  value  upon  the  churches  of  our 
country."  Theodore  Jr.  explained  to  me: 

My  father  had  great  respect  for  and  confidence  in  the 
church.  He  was,  however,  little  interested  in  mere  dogma, 
but  earnestly  lent  advocacy  when  the  church  had  an  ethical 
point  at  issue. 

The  New  York  Sun  quoted  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  his 
return  from  South  America  as  expressing  his  con 
viction  that  Roman  Catholic  workers  and  churches 
should  be  increased  there : 

A  very  short  experience  of  communities  where  there  is 
no  church  ought  to  convince  the  most  heterodox  of  the  abso 
lute  need  of  a  church.  I  earnestly  wish  that  there  could  be 
such  an  increase  in  the  personnel  and  equipment  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  South  America  as  to  permit  the  estab 
lishment  of  one  good  and  earnest  priest  in  every  village  or 
little  community  in  the  far  interior. 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHUKCH?  327 

He  also  urged  the  advantage  not  only  to  the  peo 
ple  but  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  itself  of  a 
multiplication  of  Protestant  institutions.  There 
ought  to 

be  a  marked  extension  and  development  of  the  native 
Protestant  churches,  such  as  I  saw  established  here  and 
there  in  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Argentine,  and  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  .  .  .  Not  only  is  the  establish 
ment  of  such  churches  a  good  thing  for  the  body  politic  as 
a  whole,  but  a  good  thing  for  the  Catholic  Church  itself; 
for  their  presence  is  a  constant  spur  to  activity  and  clean 
and  honorable  conduct  and  a  constant  reflection  on  sloth 
and  moral  laxity. 

Discussing  the  effect  of  a  church  on  a  community, 
he  admits  that  mere  "religious  formalism"  has  been 
an  enemy  to  religion  from  the  day  of  the  Pharisees 
until  the  present  day  and  then  says : 

Nevertheless,  in  this  actual  world  a  churchless  com 
munity,  a  community  where  men  have  abandoned  and 
scoffed  at  or  ignored  their  religious  needs,  is  a  community 
on  the  rapid  down  grade. 

He  affirms  that  it  is  only  the  exceptional  family  or 
individual  who  reaches  high  and  full  ethical  develop 
ment  without  the  help  of  the  church.  But  hear  him 
as  he  writes  in  The  Ladies'  Home  Journal : 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  occasional  individuals  or  families 
may  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  church  or  with  religious 
practices  and  observances  and  yet  maintain  the  highest 
standard  of  spirituality  and  of  ethical  obligation.  But 
this  does  not  affect  the  case  in  the  world  as  it  now  is,  any 
more  than  that  exceptional  men  and  women  under  excep 
tional  conditions  have  disregarded  the  marriage  tie  without 


328  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

moral  harm  to  themselves  interferes  with  the  larger  fact 
that  such  disregard,  if  at  all  common,  means  the  complete 
moral  disintegration  of  the  body  politic. 

In  the  West  he  noticed  that  a  pioneer  section  dis 
integrated  if  a  church  was  not  erected : 

In  the  pioneer  days  of  the  West  we  found  it  an  unfailing 
rule  that  after  a  community  had  existed  for  a  certain  length 
of  time  either  a  church  was  built  or  else  the  community 
began  to  go  downhill. 

When  church  membership  and  work  has  decreased 
in  the  older  sections  of  the  country  they  have  gone 
backward : 

In  these  old  communities  in  the  Eastern  States  which 
have  gone  backward  it  is  noticeable  that  the  retrogression 
has  been  both  marked  and  accentuated  by  a  rapid  decline 
in  church  membership  and  work.  .  .  .  This  has  occurred 
not  only  in  the  "poor  white"  sections  of  the  South,  but  in 
the  small  hamlets  of  the  "abandoned  farm"  regions  of  New 
England  and  New  York.  As  the  people  grow  slack  and  dis 
pirited  they  slip  from  all  effective  interest  in  church  ac 
tivities. 

But  when  religious  organizations  are  strengthened 
such  communities  revive: 

The  building  up  of  a  strong  country  church  or  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  such  a  community  often  has 
an  astonishing  effect  in  putting  such  a  virile  life  into  them 
that  their  moral  betterment  stimulates  a  marked  physical 
betterment  in  their  homes  and  farms. 

Mr.  Hagedorn,  the  secretary  of  the  Roosevelt  Me 
morial  Association  and  an  extensive  editor  of  Mr. 


THE  OYSTER   BAY  HOME    (CHRIST) 
CHURCH. 

1.  The  exterior  among  the  trees. 

2.  The  Interior— the  Communion  Altar. 

3.  The  Fourth  Seat  from  the  rear— the  200th 

Anniversary  bronze  tablet. 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?  329 

Roosevelt's  writings,  wrote  me :  "Scattered  through 
his  speeches  and  his  writings  are  frequent  references 
to  the  absolute  need  of  a  vigorous  religious  life  in 
every  community." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  gave  evidence  of  his  convictions  in- 
the  review  of  a  book  written  by  Charles  O.  Gill  and 
Gifford  Pinchot  on  The  Country  Church  in  The  Out 
look  for  July  19,  1913.  He  quotes  much  from  the 
illustrations  in  the  book  showing  the  beneficial  ef 
fects  of  the  church  on  a  community.  Here  is  his 
quotation  from  the  book,  which  is  describing  a  cer 
tain  country  section : 

After  the  church  was  established  the  public  property  of 
the  town,  once  a  source  of  graft  and  demoralization,  be 
came  a  public  asset.  ...  In  the  decade  and  a  half  which 
has  elapsed  since  the  church  began  its  work  boys  and  girls 
of  a  new  type  have  been  brought  up.  The  reputation  of 
the  village  has  been  changed  from  bad  to  good,  the  public 
order  has  greatly  improved,  and  the  growth  of  the  place  as 
a  summer  resort  has  begun. 

Then  Mr.  Roosevelt  asserts  that  no  community  can 
prosper  without  the  church : 

Even  men  who  are  not  professedly  religious  must,  if  they 
are  frank,  admit  that  no  community  permanently  prospers, 
either  morally  or  materially,  unless  the  church  is  a  real 
and  vital  element  in  its  community  life. 

In  urging  the  church  to  give  attention  to  social 
needs  he  guards  the  request  by  admitting  that  this, 
however,  will  not  be  sufficient: 

This  does  not  mean  that  social  life  should  be  divorced 
from  the  religious  life;  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  has  pointed  out 


330  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

that  to  neglect  the  spiritual   is  an   even   greater  blunder 
than  to  neglect  the  physical  factor  in  life. 

The  Methodist  General  Conference  of  six  hundred 
or  seven  hundred  delegates  journeyed  from  Balti 
more,  where  it  was  in  session,  to  participate  in  the 
laying  of  a  cornerstone  for  its  American  University, 
and  President  Roosevelt  in  addressing  them  paid 
high  tribute  to  the  "energy"  of  the  Methodist  Church 
in  the  early  days  of  the  republic  and  its  "spiritual" 
influence : 

Methodism  in  America  entered  on  its  period  of  rapid 
growth  just  about  the  time  of  Washington's  first  Presi 
dency.  Its  essential  democracy,  its  fiery  and  restless  energy 
of  spirit,  and  the  wide  play  that  it  gave  to  individual  in 
itiative,  all  tended  to  make  it  peculiarly  congenial  to  a 
hardy  and  virile  folk,  democratic  to  the  core,  prizing  in 
dividual  independence  above  all  earthly  possessions,  and 
engaged  in  the  rough  and  stern  work  of  conquering  a  con 
tinent. 

He  then  pays  high  praise  to  the  "circuit  riders" : 

The  whole  country  is  under  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the 
Methodist  circuit-riders,  the  Methodist  pioneer  preachers, 
whose  movement  westward  kept  pace  with  the  movement 
of  the  frontier,  who  shared  all  the  hardships  in  the  life  of 
the  frontiersman,  while  at  the  same  time  ministering  to 
that  frontiersman's  spiritual  needs,  and  seeing  that  his 
pressing  material  cares  and  the  hard  and  grinding  poverty 
of  his  life  did  not  wholly  extinguish  the  divine  fire  within 
his  soul  (The  Christian  Advocate,  January  16,  1919). 

D.  D.  Thompson  sent  President  Roosevelt  his  own 
Life  of  John  Wesley  and  called  his  attention  to  the 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHUKCH?  331 

relation  which  Methodism  sustained  to  the  labor 
problem  in  England  and  America.  In  replying  he 
noted  the  fine  social  effect  of  the  church  on  the  lo 
cality  : 

The  beautiful  books  have  come.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  appreci 
ates  them  just  as  much  as  I  do.  I  shall  be  particularly  in 
terested  in  what  you  say  in  Wesley's  Life  in  reference  to 
the  labor  problems  and  the  churches.  As  you  know,  I 
have  felt  very  strongly  that  we  needed  a  well-nigh  revo 
lutionary  change  in  our  methods  of  church  work  among  the 
laboring  people,  especially  in  the  great  cities.  I  can  say 
with  perfect  truthfulness  that  wherever  we  have  a  thor 
oughly  nourishing  Methodist  congregation,  where  the  bulk 
of  the  members  are  artisans  and  mechanics,  I  regard  the 
social  and  industrial  outlook  for  that  particular  locality 
as  good,  just  as  I  feel  that  a  flourishing  Young  Men's  Chris 
tian  Association  movement  in  connection  with  a  particular 
railroad  opens  vistas  of  hopefulness  for  that  railroad. 

He  would,  in  no  circumstances,  limit  this  state 
ment  of  fact  to  any  one  denomination,  but  merely 
used  this  occasion  to  pay  a  general  tribute  to  the 
churches,  for  in  another  place  he  similarly  praises 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

At  another  time  the  President  wrote  Dr.  Thomp 
son  that  Americans  were  unusually  interested  in  the 
life  of  Wesley,  since  "the  great  church  which  Wesley 
founded"  has  reached  its  largest  development  here 
and  its  existence  coincides  with  the  existence  of  "our 
national  life."  Then  he  says : 

The  Methodist  congregations  played  a  peculiar  part  in 
the  pioneer  history  of  our  country,  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
over-estimate  what  we  owe  to  the  early  circuit-riders,  no 
less  than  to  their  successors. 


332  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

His  appreciation  of  the  church's  influence  in  laying 
the  foundation  for  an  enduring  liberty  is  evidenced 
very  early  in  life  by  his  reference  to  the  contention 
of  the  independent  churches  in  Cromwell's  time.  He 
was  confident  that  when  the  local  churches  insisted 
on  their  intrinsic  rights  to  decide  about  their  own 
doctrines  they  became  "forerunners  in  the  movement 
that  has  culminated  in  our  modern  political  and  re 
ligious  liberty." 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  pastor  at  Oyster  Bay  described 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  rare  consideration  for  the  preacher 
to  whom  he  listened  every  Sunday.  He  wrote  in  The 
Churchman : 

There  were  friends  who  said  in  warning,  "You  will  find 
him  a  hard  man  to  preach  to;  he  is  so  positive  in  his  con 
victions."  Would  that  preachers  had  always  so  kindly  a 
critic  as  he — one  who  could  follow  what  they  say,  commend 
utterances  that  were  worth  while,  and  suggest  books  to 
read  if  the  views  were  divergent.  This  criticism,  always 
in  private,  might  take  the  form,  "I  liked  that  expression; 
may  I  use  it?"  or  "While  I  did  not  agree  with  you,  I  en 
joyed  your  presentation.  But  have  you  read  such  and  such 
a  book?  It  is  very  illuminating."1 

He  followed  the  injunction  of  his  favorite  text 
(Micah  6.  8)  and  endeavored  even  in  his  worship  to 
"walk  humbly  with  God,"  for  in  Washington  he  at 
tended  a  humble  Dutch  Reformed  church  on  a  side 
street  and  a  small,  unpretentious  Episcopal  church 
in  Oyster  Bay. 

President  Roosevelt's  Washington  pastor  had  an 
eight-year-old  boy  named  John,  and  he  and  the  boy 

Reprinted  from  The  Churchman. 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?  333 

were  great  friends.  He  insisted  to  the  boy's  mother 
— for  the  pastor's  pew  was  just  in  front  of  him — "It's 
half  my  care  in  church  to  take  care  of  Johnnie.  I 
don't  know  what  he  would  do  if  I  did  not  look  out  for 
him."  On  his  return  from  Oyster  Bay  Johnnie  once 
asked  the  President  about  his  boys :  "I  don't  know," 
said  Mr.  Roosevelt,  "how  they  are,  for  when  I  last 
saw  them  they  were  eating  green  apples." 

Dr.  Iglehart  went  down  to  Washington  for  a  con 
ference  on  Sunday.  Secretary  Loeb  told  him  that 
the  President  would  be  found  in  church  unless  an 
ankle  recently  sprained  and  pretty  "severe"  would 
keep  him  at  home.  The  President,  however,  appeared 
in  due  time,  "throwing  his  arms  and  pushing  and 
pulling  his  wounded  leg  with  a  perceptible  limp  at  a 
rapid  gait."  Dr.  Iglehart  continues : 

The  ritual  service,  which  was  almost  as  elaborate  as  that 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  was  participated  in  scrupulously 
by  the  President,  who  stood,  sat,  and  responded  at  the 
proper  time.  He  joined  heartily  in  the  singing,  which  was 
led  by  a  precentor  and  organist  without  a  choir.  He  was 
the  best  listener  I  saw  in  the  house.  The  weather  was  in 
tensely  hot,  the  mercury  at  ninety-five,  and  he  kept  a  large 
palm-leaf  fan  in  his  right  hand  going  to  the  limit  of  its 
capacity  every  minute  of  the  service. 

The  pastor  being  absent  on  this  particular  Sunday 
the  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  preached  a 
helpful  but  not  brilliant  sermon,  Dr.  Iglehart  tells 
us,  and : 

I  walked  away  with  him  and  commenced  to  tell  him  some 
thing  when  he  halted  me  and  said,  "Let  me  say  something 
first  and  then  you  can  go  on  with  your  story."  He  said,  "The 


334  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

services  this  morning  were  enjoyable.  The  sermon  was 
good  and  I  agreed  with  him  in  the  points  he  made  that  the 
home  is  the  chief  foundation  stone  of  the  republic  and  the 
hope  of  the  church.  .  .  .  After  a  week  on  perplexing  prob 
lems  and  in  heated  contests,  it  does  so  rest  my  soul  to  come 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  worship  and  to  sing  and 
mean  it,  the  hymn,  'Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty/ 
and  to  know  that  he  is  my  Father,  and  takes  me  into  his  life 
and  plans.  I  am  sure  I  get  a  wisdom  not  my  own  and  a 
superhuman  strength  in  fighting  the  moral  evils  I  am  called 
on  to  confront." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  always  partook  of  the  sacred  sym 
bols  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  communion  service. 
When  he  wrote  The  Great  Adventure,  which  title 
refers  to  death,  he  recorded  his  church  habits  as  in 
cluding  this  observance : 

When  I  was  Governor  of  New  York  I  was  a  member  of 
the  same  Dutch  Reformed  Church  to  which  two  and  a  half 
centuries  earlier  Governor  Peter  Stuyvesant  had  belonged; 
and  we  sat  at  communion  at  a  long  table  in  the  aisle  just  as 
he  and  his  associates  had  done  (The  Great  Adventure, 
p.  48). 

The  Oyster  Bay  rector  gives  us  a  very  impressive 
vision  of  Quentin  kneeling  at  the  communion  table 
just  before  his  departure  to  France.  The  news  of 
Quentin's  death  reached  his  home  on  Saturday.  At 
eight  o'clock  on  Sunday  a  service  was  held  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  administering  the  sacred  elements. 
And  though  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  often  attend  this 
special  service,  on  the  Sunday  following  his  great 
sorrow  he  came  to  the  eight  o'clock  service  to  seek 
comfort  from  fellowship  with  the  Man  of  Sorrows. 
The  rector  describes  the  scene  in  The  Churchman : 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?  335 

One  recalls  that  Sunday  morning  before  Quentin  sailed, 
how  he  came  to  church  for  his  last  communion.  We  felt 
it  would  be  the  last.  We  talked  otherwise.  Then  came  the 
letter  from  abroad  in  which  was  written,  "I  have  just  been 
to  service  in  Notre  Dame  Cathedral.  It  was  fine.  But  I 
would  rather  have  been  in  Christ  Church."  And  then  came 
the  cable  message,  and  early  next  morning,  when  so  many 
would  have  stayed  away,  the  parents  drew  near  to  the  same 
altar  rail.  There  were  no  dry  eyes,  and  the  words  could 
scarcely  be  spoken,  but  their  force  was  there:  "Preserve 
thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life."  This  time  also 
it  was  a  last  communion,  but  we  did  not  know  it.1 

It  was  the  last  time  Mr.  Koosevelt  partook  of  the 
sacred  elements  before  his  death. 

He  did  not  attend  church  listlessly  but  entered 
into  the  service  heartily  and  listened  to  the  sermon 
closely.  He  literally  worshiped  "in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  As  Mr.  McLaughlin  said  to  me :  "He  would 
use  his  wonderful  power  of  concentration  even  in  a 
church  and  so  drive  everything  else  but  worship  out 
of  his  mind." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ludlow  related  an  incident  to  me 
which  illustrated  his  religious  concentration : 

As  a  boy  he  paid  the  closest  attention  during  the  whole 
worship  period.  He  so  completely  appropriated  the  service 
that  in  a  book  which  I  wrote  and  dedicated  to  him  I  in 
scribed  the  words:  "To  the  boy  in  the  pew  who  always 
worked  out  what  he  heard." 

He  respected  the  position  of  the  "pastor"  and  gave 
him  due  recognition,  as  shown  by  Dr.  Iglehart,  who 
wrote : 


1Reprinted  from  The  Churchman. 


336  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

When  General  Baden-Powell  was  in  this  country  in  the 
interest  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement,  there  was  an  informal 
luncheon  at  Sagamore  Hill,  at  which  the  General  and  some 
men  prominent  in  the  movement  were  present.  The  rector, 
was  invited  to  meet  them.  He  was  introduced  as  "my 
pastor"  (Iglehart,  p.  287). 

He  rarely  had  an  important  conference  in  Wash 
ington  without  having  the  ministry  represented.  He 
had  high  appreciation  for  the  pastor's  character. 

In  depicting  the  benefits  of  church  attendance,  he 
says : 

Unless  he  is  very  unfortunate  he  will  hear  a  sermon  by  a 
good  man,  who  with  his  good  wife  is  engaged  all  the  week 
long  in  a  series  of  wearing  and  humdrum  tasks  for  making 
hard  lives  a  little  easier;  and  both  this  man  and  his  wife 
are  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  showing  much  self-denial 
and  doing  much  for  humble  folks  of  whom  few  others  think, 
and  keeping  up  a  brave  show  on  narrow  means  (Ladies' 
Home  Journal,  October,  1917). 

Mr.  Leary  informed  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  greatly 
deplored  the  small  salaries  paid  clergymen : 

Several  times  in  my  hearing  he  severely  criticized  the 
church  for  paying  ministers  such  small  salaries.  He  in 
sisted  that  it  was  an  economic  problem  and  that  elemental 
justice  required  better  consideration  for  them.  He  had  a 
great  many  preacher  friends.  He  always  had  contempt  for 
the  fashionable,  easy-going  type  who  appealed  largely  to 
neurotic  women.  He  thought  that  such  types  were  usually 
overpaid  while  those  who  did  the  real  work  were  underpaid. 

In  his  review  of  "The  Country  Church"  already 
referred  to,  in  discussing  the  failure  of  churches  be 
cause  of  poorly  equipped  ministers,  he  says :  "You 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?  337 

cannot  expect  good  men  in  the  ministry  until  the 
ministry  offers  a  reasonable  living  for  the  minister 
and  his  family." 

In  the  midst  of  his  campaigning  for  Judge  Hughes 
the  writer  and  two  minister  friends  were  driving 
in  the  vicinity  of  Oyster  Bay  and  we  decided  to  pay 
our  respects  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  with  a  call.  His  sec 
retary  greeted  us  at  the  door  to  say : 

The  Colonel  is  very  sorry  that  he  cannot  see  you  but  he 
is  in  the  midst  of  dictating  a  campaign  speech  to  be  re 
leased  to  the  newspapers.  It  must  go  in  to  New  York  on  an 
early  mail.  He  feels  sure  you  will  understand. 

We  accepted  the  situation  and,  starting  to  leave, 
said:  "Please  tell  the  Colonel  that  three  ministers 
came  to  pay  their  respects  and  wish  him  well."  He 
overheard  the  word  "ministers"  and  bounded  out  of 
his  office  and  with  characteristic  greeting  explained : 
"I  did  not  know  that  my  callers  were  clergymen. 
I  could  not  allow  a  minister  to  leave  my  doorstep 
without  seeing  him  for  at  least  a  moment."  Then 
he  explained  the  unusual  task  on  him  at  that  mo 
ment  and  talked  politics  rapidly  for  a  brief  period 
and  left  us  so  graciously  that  we  went  back  to  our 
work  with  a  higher  vision  of  our  calling. 

When  the  war  was  on  he  was  flooded  with  invita 
tions  to  speak.  He  was  not  in  sturdy  health ;  he  was 
writing  constantly  and  interviewing  scores.  The 
above-mentioned  trio  of  ministers  called  at  his  city 
office  and  invited  him  to  address  a  large  group  of  city 
pastors.  This  appealed  to  him,  for  he  said: 

I  want  to  speak  to  these  clergymen,  for  they  will  pass 


338  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

the  message  on  to  others  and  spread  the  fire,  as  can  no 
other  group  of  men.  I  have  just  refused  to  speak  at  a  lay 
man's  banquet  for  a  Presbyterian  minister  friend  of  twenty- 
five  years'  standing.  If  he  will  accept  the  situation  and  not 
feel  that  I  have  slighted  him,  I  will  do  it.  You  must,  how 
ever,  first  get  his  consent. 

We  did  so,  and  though  the  clergyman  agreed  he  yet 
wrote  Mr.  Roosevelt  a  complaining  letter,  which 
caused  him  to  immediately  withdraw  his  acceptance 
of  our  invitation.  He  would  not  grieve  his  old-time 
minister  friend.  Later  when  this  minister  better 
understood  the  situation  he  heartily  withdrew  his 
complaint  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  sidetracked  other  en 
gagements  and  gave  a  confidential  but  very  remark 
able  address  to  five  hundred  city  pastors.  Few  of 
them  will  ever  forget  the  esteem  and  confidence  ex 
hibited  in  it,  both  by  word  and  bearing. 

In  his  Autobiography  he  expresses  high  praise  for 
the  chaplain  of  the  Rough  Rider  Regiment,  who  he 
insisted  was  an  ideal  man  for  the  position,  for  he 
never  "spared  himself"  as  he  visited  the  "sick  and 
wounded"  and  cheered  everyone  with  his  ministra 
tions. 

At  another  time  while  making  an  address  he 
pointed  to  the  chaplain  and  insisted  that  he  was 
among  the  finest  citizens  of  the  land,  for  "he  is  a 
Methodist  preacher  of  the  old  circuit  rider  stock," 
sturdy  and  courageous.  He  further  explained  that 
the  chaplain  was  in  the  war  since  "his  people  had 
been  in  all  our  wars  before  him,"  and  he  had  there 
fore  gone  in  as  a  natural  consequence. 

He  then  describes  the  chaplain's  courage  as  he  sits 


DID  HE  JOIN  THE  CHURCH?          339 

in  the  "bomb  proof"  with  shrapnel  bursting  over  his 
head,  calmly  breaking  coffee  beans  for  his  cup  of 
coffee  with  the  butt  of  his  revolver. 

In  speaking  at  an  anniversary  meeting  of  the 
American  Tract  Society,  which  was  scattering  re 
ligious  truth  in  printed  form  everywhere,  he  said : 
"One  of  the  best  things  done  by  this  society,  and  by 
kindred  religious  and  benevolent  societies,  is  supply 
ing  in  our  American  life  of  to-day  the  proper  ideals." 
Continuing,  he  said  that  such  service  could  not  be 
bought  with  money : 

This  is  the  spirit  that  lies  behind  this  society,  and  all 
kindred  societies;  and  we  owe  to  this  society  all  the  help 
we  can  afford  to  give,  for  it  is  itself  giving  to  our  people 
a  service  beyond  price,  a  service  of  love,  a  service  which  no 
money  could  buy. 

He  welcomed  the  day  when  the  various  denomina 
tions  would  work  together  more  closely,  and  rejoiced 
that  they  were  learning  "that  they  can  best  serve 
their  God  by  serving  their  fellow  men,  and  best  serve 
their  fellow  men,  not  by  wrangling  among  them 
selves,  but  by  a  generous  rivalry  in  working  for  right 
eousness  and  against  evil." 

The  church  to  him  did  not  consist  of  building, 
preacher,  or  choir.  It  was,  rather,  a  place  of  wor 
ship.  He  did  not  go  to  hear  a  great  preacher  or  a 
noted  choir  or  see  a  cathedral  structure.  Most  of  his 
worship  was  observed  in  humble  buildings  with  or 
dinary  music  and  preaching.  He  did  not  excuse  the 
faults  of  church  members,  neither  did  he  expect  them 
to  be  perfect,  but  he  worked  through  the  organiza- 


340  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

tion  called  the  church  to  improve  them,  receive  help, 
and  widen  the  influence  of  religion.  He  did  not  for 
get  the  "assembling"  together  in  common  worship  to 
aid  each  other  to  obtain  happiness  and  scatter  help 
fulness.  He  was  therefore  loyal  to  its  services,  its 
aims,  and  its  claims.  To  him  religion  and  its  organ 
ized  form,  the  church,  was  never  secondary,  but  al 
ways  primary. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
CHUKCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK 

"I  advocate  a  man's  joining  in  church  work  for  the  sake 
of  showing  his  faith  by  his  works." — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Let  us  consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  to 
good  works:  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  to 
gether.— Heb.  10.  24,  25. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  always  acted  in  line  with 
his  belief.  When  he  decided  that  the  Re 
publican  party  was  the  one  most  nearly 
correct,  he  publicly  affiliated  with  it  and  identified 
himself  actively  with  a  local  party  club.  Friends 
ridiculed  the  poor  caliber  of  its  membership.  He 
ignored  this  criticism  and  started  to  improve  the 
members  by  interesting  them  in  better  government. 
He  continued  to  render  his  public  service  through  a 
party  organization.  He  admitted  its  weakness  and 
faults,  but  instead  of  using  this  to  excuse  inactivity 
he  exerted  himself  to  make  it  better. 

He  joined  the  church  in  the  same  practical  way. 
He  believed  in  what  the  church  stood  for,  and  since 
he  believed  also  in  organization  he  identified  himself 
with  a  visible  body  of  believers.  He  did  not  require 
perfection  in  membership,  nor  was  he  willing  to  be  a 
religious  "mugwump."  He  did  not  stay  out  because 
there  were  so  many  hypocrites  in  the  church ;  that 
would  have  kept  him  out  of  the  Republican  party. 

341 


342  KOOSEVELT'S  KELIGION 

He  also  went  to  work,  for  very  early  he  taught  a 
Sunday-school  class  and  continued  until  he  gradu 
ated  from  college.  Mr.  Washburne,  his  classmate, 
wrote  me:  "I  remember  that  he  taught  a  Sunday- 
school  class  when  he  was  in  college,  which  was  quite 
an  unusual  occupation  for  a  college  student."  And 
he  encountered  some  unpleasant  experiences  in  his 
church  work,  but  acted  toward  those  experiences 
even  as  he  did  in  his  political  clubs.  He  was  teaching 
in  Old  Christ  Church,  where  General  and  Mrs.  Wash 
ington  had  attended  in  1775,  when  suddenly  he  was 
asked  to  resign  by  the  new  rector.  A  classmate  tells 
us: 

The  news  spread  about  college  like  flames  through  a  build 
ing.  We  learned  Roosevelt  was  removed  because  he  was  not 
a  confirmed  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Everybody 
lauded  Roosevelt.  One  Professor  actually  withdrew  from 
the  congregation.  But  Roosevelt  did  not  take  the  occur 
rence  to  heart.1 

Another  "story"  already  related  attributed  his  ex 
pulsion  from  the  Sunday  school  to  the  fact  that  he 
rewarded  a  boy  for  using  his  fists  in  a  righteous 
cause.  However  that  may  be,  he  immediately  found 
another  Sunday  school  and  continued  teaching.  He 
did  not  get  offended  because  of  mistreatment  nor 
break  with  the  church  because  it  was  not  perfect. 

If  he  had  not  joined  a  conservative  denomination 
which  used  laymen  very  little,  he  might  have  been 
much  more  active.  He  once  said  that  if  he  had  been 
a  Methodist  he  would  have  sought  for  a  local 


^Theodore  Rooaevett  oa  an  Undergraduate,  p.  20. 


TWO  CHURCH  DOORS 
The  two  doors  Mr.  Roosevelt  faithfully  entered. 

Above— The  Oyster  Bay  Church  Door. 
Below — The  Washington  Church  Door. 


CHUKCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK    343 

preacher's  license  which  is  given  to  laymen.  He 
never  criticized  the  church  as  a  whole  or  individu 
ally,  though  once  in  urging  the  Lutheran  Church  to 
give  up  German  and  use  English  exclusively,  he  did 
say:  "Had  the  Dutch  Reformed  church  to  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  belong,  changed  to  English  earlier, 
it  would  in  all  probability  be  one  of  the  leading 
churches  in  New  York." 

A  great  many  people  join  the  church,  especially 
Protestants,  and  straightway  forget  it.  They  attend 
seldom  and  give  scant  support.  Very  few  engage 
actively  in  church  work;  vast  numbers  are  satisfied 
if  their  names  are  on  old  records  in  the  childhood 
home  instead  of  glorying  in  being  militant  members. 
They  are  like  American  citizens  who  pay  no  taxes, 
neglect  voting,  and  take  no  part  in  public  matters. 
Mr .  Roosevelt  as  severely  arraigns  the  man  who 
neglects  the  church  in  this  way  as  he  did  the  non- 
voting  and  careless  citizen. 

No  clergyman  could  put  the  whole  case  of  the 
church  more  strongly  than  he  did  in  an  article  in 
The  Ladies'  Home  Journal  for  October,  1917,  under 
the  subject,  "Shall  We  Do  Away  With  the  Church?" 
Mrs.  Robinson  told  the  writer  that  in  her  judgment 
this  was  "the  most  splendid  thing"  her  brother  ever 
wrote. 

When  writing  at  that  time  of  aiding  the  faithful 
pastor  and  his  wife  he  urges  regular  church  attend 
ance,  saying: 

He  can't  help  them  [the  pastor  and  his  wife]  unless  he  is 
a  reasonably  regular  church  attendant.  Otherwise  he  is  an 
outsider  and  is  felt  to  be  such  both  by  the  people  in  and  out 


344  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

of  the  church  and  hence  his  activities  in  the  church  are 
only  those  an  outsider  can  play. 

Kermit  informed  me  that  when  "we  were  on  the 
'African'  trip,  father  usually  found  a  mission  or 
some  kind  of  a  church  to  attend  every  Sunday." 
Mr.  Hagedorn,  who  worked  closely  with  him  during 
the  days  preceding  his  death,  remarked  that  "He 
seldom,  if  ever,  failed  to  attend  church  if  he  was  in 
physical  condition  to  attend  and  was  within  reach 
of  any  Christian  church."  Mr.  Loeb  told  me:  "He 
had  the  churchgoing  habit  and  enjoyed  it.  He  felt 
that  the  American  father  should  attend  regularly." 

Mr.  Leary  said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  greatly 
pleased  when  he  told  him  one  Sunday  that  the  news 
paper  "boys"  were  surprised  to  see  him  break  his  cus 
tom  and  fail  to  attend  on  a  particular  Sunday  when 
he  happened  to  be  ill. 

President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  told  me  that  he 
spent  many  Sundays  with  Mr.  Roosevelt,  both  in 
Albany  and  at  the  White  House,  and  that  he  never 
failed  to  go  to  church.  "He  would,"  continued  Dr. 
Butler,  "avoid  the  larger  and  more  fashionable 
churches  and  seek  the  small  church  with  an  earnest 
body  of  worshipers.  He  was  invariably  in  place  when 
the  service  opened.  He  didn't  have  a  good  singing 
voice,  but  he  joined  in  nevertheless.  He  listened 
closely  to  the  sermon  and  had  something  to  say  about 
it  on  the  way  home.  On  our  Sunday  walks  he  usually 
talked  of  character,  a  Christian's  duties,  and  the 
value  of  church  attendance  and  work." 

W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  expressed  the  opinion  that 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK    345 

Mr.  Roosevelt  "thought  that  the  church  was  an  or 
ganization  vital  to  the  welfare  of  all  the  people  and 
supported  it  as  such." 

"Mr.  Roosevelt  recognized  that  his  career  and  posi 
tion  made  him  a  marked  man,"  said  Mr.  McGrath, 
"and  he  was  eager  to  show  by  his  example  his  belief 
that  churchgoing  was  a  requisite  habit  for  the  de 
velopment  of  the  best  type  of  citizenship." 

When  he  was  in  the  Spanish  War  he  encouraged 
his  men  to  attend  religious  services.  Rabbi  Kraus- 
koff,  of  Temple  Keneseth  Israel,  Philadelphia,  relates 
a  visit  he  made  to  the  general  camp  which  was  under 
the  command  of  General  Joseph  Wheeler  when  the 
General  suggested  that  he  hold  a  service  for  the  Jews. 
The  Rabbi  says  that  he 

gladly  accepted  his  offer,  and  he  delegated  an  orderly  to 
summon  the  Jewish  boys  from  the  different  posts.  Presently 
they  began  to  appear,  singly  or  in  groups  of  two  or  three 
from  all  directions.  Those  under  Roosevelt's  charge,  how 
ever,  came  in  a  body,  headed  by  the  Colonel  himself.  His 
coming  was  intended  to  be  as  much  of  a  compliment  to  the 
boys  as  to  myself. 

In  his  Letters  to  His  Children  are  many  references 
to  his  habit  of  church  attendance.  He  writes  Kermit 
of  his  fondness  for  John  Hay  and  tells  him  that  he 
stopped  to  see  him  every  Sunday  on  "my  way  home 
from  church." 

He  writes  to  Miss  Emily  Carow  of  one  Sunday 
when  all  the  inhabitants  of  three  Roosevelt  houses 
went  to  a  Sunday  service  on  the  "great  battleship 
Kearsarge." 


346  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Oyster  Bay  is  only  thirty  miles  from  New  York 
but  Mr.  Roosevelt  never  caine  to  the  city  to  hear 
gifted  preachers  and  famous  choirs.  For  thirty 
years  he  attended  the  frame  Episcopal  church 
(Christ)  in  the  village  and  sat  in  a  pew  hav 
ing  a  straight  board  back,  made  by  the  con 
structing  carpenters.  The  building  seats  three 
hundred  and  forty-four  people  and  has  thirteen 
rows  of  seats  (evidently  no  superstition  bothered 
them)  and  the  Roosevelt  family  was  assigned 
the  tenth  from  the  front  or  the  fourth  from 
the  back.  It  was  near  the  door  through  which 
Mr.  Roosevelt  always  entered  quietly.  He  usually 
walked  the  two  and  a  half  miles  from  his  home 
and  so  was  not  sleepy  when  he  entered.  If 
visitors  cared  to  accompany  him,  they  came  along 
— if  not,  he  excused  himself  and  came  without  them. 
The  rector  assured  me  that  he  was  very  rarely  absent. 
The  building  is  very  simple  in  form  and  inexpensive 
in  construction.  Only  the  altar  nave  has  a  modern 
decoration,  which  was  put  on  for  the  wedding  of  Mrs. 
Derby.  There  is  a  beautiful  picture  of  Christ 
blessing  the  people  over  the  altar.  The  old  school 
teacher  who  trained  the  Roosevelt  children  under 
went  a  dangerous  operation  and  was  told  to  call  up 
a  cheering  memory  before  going  under  the  opiate. 
She  related  afterward  that  she  revisioned  this  Christ- 
picture  and  that  her  last  remembrance  pictured  him 
leaving  the  window  frame  and  coming  to  and  touch 
ing  her  until  all  fear  fled.  The  altar  is  far  up  in 
the  nave  and  here  only  twelve  could  kneel  at  a  time 
to  receive  the  communion.  The  beautiful  altar 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WOKK      347 

cloth  is  a  memorial  to  Lucy  Margaret  Roosevelt,  the 
daughter  of  W.  Emlen  Roosevelt  (Theodore's 
cousin),  who  accompanied  the  Roosevelts  on  the 
South  American  trip,  where  she  contracted  typhoid 
fever,  from  which  she  died.  There  is  a  beautiful  mar 
ble  baptismal  font  at  the  left  of  the  altar,  beside 
which  Mr.  Roosevelt  stood  several  times  when  acting 
as  godfather  at  the  baptism  of  infants.  This  church, 
like  Grace  Reformed  Church  in  Washington,  which 
Mr.  Roosevelt  attended,  has  kneeling  stools,  which  he 
regularly  used. 

The  present  church  building  was  erected  in  1878 
but  the  organization  dates  back  to  1706.  In  1906  the 
two  hundredth  anniversary  was  celebrated  and 
President  Roosevelt  participated,  as  is  shown  on  the 
tablet  pictured  on  another  page.  It  is  the  only  place 
where  his  name  appears  in  the  church  building. 

Four  hundred  members  are  enrolled  on  the  church 
records.  Nearly  one  fourth  of  them  were  in  "service" 
during  the  Great  War,  for  ninety-seven  names  are 
recorded  on  the  Honor  Roll.  There  are  nine  Roose 
velts  on  the  roll.  The  pastor's  son  and  daughter  are 
included.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  her  daughter  Ethel 
(Mrs.  Derby)  are  active  members  of  the  Saint  Hilda 
Society,  the  one  woman's  society,  which  does  all  the 
home  and  foreign  missionary  work — for  women — 
in  the  church.  This  society  attended  the  funeral  in 
a  body  and  were  the  only  residents  of  Oyster  Bay 
who  witnessed  the  wedding  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Derby. 
It  held  no  receptions  for  two  years  after  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  death,  when  Mrs.  Roosevelt  revived  the  custom 
by  inviting  them  to  her  house. 


348  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

The  godly  rector  is  Kev.  G.  E.  Talmage,  who  ac 
cepted  the  position  eleven  years  ago.  He  was  origi 
nally  a  clergyman  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
the  denomination  to  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  actually 
belonged.  He  is  sanely  spiritual,  friendly,  natural, 
and  very  human.  He  does  not  stress  denominational 
differences  but  in  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  church 
the  words  are  given:  "Our  faith  is  that  of  the 
universal  church."  He  is  a  sturdy  ethical  preacher, 
applying  the  Bible  in  a  practical  way  to  current 
problems.  He  is  a  house-visiting  pastor.  He  thought 
it  not  unusual  when  he  visited  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  the 
hospital  to  pray  with  him,  for  he  treated  him  "as 
any  other  parishioner."  He  has  an  Italian  assistant, 
to  serve  that  race  now  moving  into  Oyster  Bay. 

Dr.  Talmage  conducted  the  funeral  service  in  this 
humble  church,  which  was  crowded  with  five  hundred 
of  America's  most  noted  men.  Ex-President  Taft, 
Vice-President  Marshall,  Speaker  Champ  Clark,  the 
Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes,  Ambassador  Jusserand, 
and  scores  more  like  them  were  there.  There  was 
no  music.  The  hymn,  "How  Firm  a  Foundation"  was 
read.  The  whole  service  consisted  of  ritual.  Not 
an  address  was  made.  It  did  not  consume  thirteen 
minutes.  And  yet  there  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  this 
assemblage  of  great  men.  He  was  buried  in  Young's 
Memorial  Cemetery,  in  which,  though  it  is  over  sev 
enty-five  years  old,  there  are  not  over  two  hundred 
graves.  The  picture  on  another  page  will  show  the 
simplicity  of  the  gravestone.  Hundreds  visit  the 
spot  every  week  and  go  away  wondering  at  the 
Christlike  simplicity  shown  everywhere. 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     349 

While  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  Vice-President  and 
President  he  attended  the  little  Grace  Reformed 
church  located  between  Rhode  Island  Avenue  and 
P  Street  on  15th  Street  N.  W.  His  own  distinct 
denomination  was  the  Dutch  Reformed,  but  it  is 
closely  related  to  the  "Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States,"  which  has  one  third  of  a  million 
members.  When  he  first  went  to  Washington,  they 
were  worshiping  in  a  little  frame  chapel  on  the  rear 
of  the  lot  and  seating  less  than  two  hundred  people. 
The  present  structure  will  take  care  of  about  four 
hundred.  When  he  attended  they  had  three  hundred 
members. 

It  is  very  churchly  and  much  ritual  is  employed. 
Six  beautiful  stained  glass  windows  in  order  depict 
incidents  in  the  life  of  Jesus  as  follows :  The  Wise 
Men,  The  Child  in  the  Temple,  Jesus  in  the  Home  of 
Mary  and  Martha,  The  Good  Shepherd,  Jesus 
Crowned  with  Thorns,  and  the  Resurrection. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  last  named  is  the 
largest  window  and  was  placed  there  by  George  F. 
Baer,  who  was  one  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  stiffest  op 
ponents  in  the  anthracite  coal  strike.  Mr.  Baer  was 
a  member  of  the  Second  Reformed  Church  in  Read 
ing,  Pennsylvania. 

The  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  Henry  Ranck,  D.D., 
emphasized  the  fact  that  his  denomination  traced  its 
origin  back  to  Zwingli,  who  differed  from  Luther 
in  that  he  emphasized  the  necessity  of  Christians 
entering  into  political  matters  and  having  a  part  in 
the  government  of  the  state,  while  Luther  either  dis 
couraged  it  or  neglected  to  enforce  it.  A  very  strong 


350  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

decorative  feature  of  the  front  of  the  church  shows 
the  head  of  a  knight  and  a  burgher.  This  the  pastor 
explained  was  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  a  Christian 
should  enter  into  state  affairs  energetically  and 
dominantly.  That  fact  doubtless  appealed  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt. 

Over  the  two  side  entrance  doors  there  is  a  strik 
ing  stone  cut  reproduction  of  lilies  among  thorns, 
which  also  emphasized  the  necessity  of  righteousness 
combating  evil.  Near  the  top  of  the  front  of  the 
building  is  another  symbol  depicting  the  cross  as 
supporting  the  world,  to  emphasize  the  necessity  of 
sacrifice  if  men  are  to  be  strong  and  helpful.  Soldiers 
and  helmets  also  mark  the  stone  adornments  to  en 
force  the  need  of  battling  for  righteousness. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  talk  with  the  present  pastor 
and  then  to  have  a  delightful  interview  with  the 
widow  of  the  man  who  was  pastor  during  the  time 
Theodore  Roosevelt  attended  there,  that  is,  eight 
years.  After  consulting  with  them  and  with  others, 
the  following  facts  have  been  woven  together,  and 
while  traceable  to  no  one  person,  they  are  authentic : 

The  Rev.  John  M.  Schick  was  a  graduate  of 
Mercersburg  College  and  Theological  Seminary.  This 
school  also  gave  him  his  degree  of  D.D.  He  called 
upon  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  Saturday  of  the  week  he  ar 
rived  in  Washington  as  Vice-President.  The  follow 
ing  Sunday  he  appeared  at  the  church  with  his  whole 
family  and  never  missed  a  service  after  that  while  in 
the  city.  Dr.  Schick  was  not  a  brilliant  preacher  but 
was  blunt,  straightforward,  and  always  hit  the  nail 
on  the  head.  He  was  not  afraid  of  anybody,  delivered 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     351 

the  truth  as  he  saw  it,  and  always  related  it  closely 
to  the  Bible.  He  was  an  earnest  student  of  the  Scrip 
tures  and  gave  many  exegetical  sermons.  He  had  a 
skeleton  of  his  sermon  before  him  and  repeated  fre 
quently  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. 

He  was  self-possessed,  clear-eyed,  not  given  to  flat 
tery,  sincere  in  his  friendships,  high  idealed,  and 
bore  himself  like  an  old-time  prophet.  He  was  con 
servative  in  theology,  but  progressive  in  his  views  of 
political  righteousness.  He  held  the  old-fashioned 
notions  of  God,  the  Bible,  and  the  church.  He  be 
came  a  real  friend  of  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schick  often  attended  social  func 
tions  as  the  guests  of  Mrs.  Roosevelt.  They  were 
among  the  very  few  outside  guests  who  attended  the 
Longworth  wedding.  The  pastor's  boy,  John,  and 
Air.  Roosevelt's  Archibald  were  schoolmates,  and  so 
John  was  often  present  at  the  children's  parties. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  came  late  one  morning  to  a  service. 
Two  or  three  told  me  that  he  was  much  flustered  by 
this  fact.  He  assured  the  deacon,  Mr.  Thomas,  that 
he  would  never  be  late  again.  He  never  was.  As 
regular  as  the  clock  struck,  two  minutes  before  the 
services  began  he  was  in  his  place.  The  officials  of 
the  church  assigned  to  him  the  third  pew  from  the 
front.  The  pastor's  family  sat  in  front  of  him,  while 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  church  sat  behind  him.  Just 
across  the  aisle  sat  Commodore  Shock,  an  old-fash 
ioned  Methodist  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  and 
enjoyed  Dr.  Schick's  preaching.  The  President  often 
spoke  to  him.  It  was  the  custom  in  the  church  for 
one  to  bow  the  head  on  the  front  of  the  pew  when 


352  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

coming  into  the  service.  There  were  kneeling 
benches  which  were  used  through  the  ritualistic 
prayers  by  the  whole  congregation.  When  Mr. 
Roosevelt  arrived  he  would  always  greet  members 
of  the  pastor's  family  and  visit  with  them  until  the 
church  service  began. 

One  day  Mrs.  Schick  told  John,  then  seven  years 
old,  that  he  must  not  turn  around  and  shake  hands 
with  the  President,  as  it  drew  too  much  public  atten 
tion  to  him.  Next  Sunday  John  slipped  his  hand 
around  the  end  of  the  seat  without  turning  around. 
The  President  immediately  grabbed  it  and  assured 
the  family  that  he  wanted  the  boy  always  to  speak 
to  him.  The  church  was  carefully  guarded.  Three 
secret  service  men  always  accompanied  him.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  regularly  walked  to  church,  a  distance  of 
about  two  miles,  and  back  again.  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
was  frequently  with  him.  At  times  he  brought 
guests.  His  sister,  Mrs.  Robinson,  often  accompa 
nied  him.  One  day  a  cripple  boy  stepped  aside  to  let 
the  President  pass  in  ahead  of  him,  but  Mr.  Roose 
velt  was  not  content  with  that  arrangement  and  in 
sisted  that  the  "boy"  pass  into  the  church  first. 

He  rarely  missed  a  Sunday-morning  service.  If 
compelled  to  be  absent,  he  would  send  a  messenger 
from  the  White  House  before  the  hour  of  worship, 
to  tell  the  pastor  why  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  be 
absent.  At  one  time  they  had  diphtheria  in  the 
White  House  and  he  sent  a  note  explaining  that 
while  he  was  not  near  the  cases,  yet  it  might  not  be 
best  for  him  to  attend,  especially  when  little  John, 
the  pastor's  son,  sat  right  in  front  of  him. 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     353 

Hot  or  cold  weather  did  not  affect  him.  One  who 
attended  the  church  regularly  told  me  that  one  ter 
rifically  hot  day  he  came  in  saturated  with  per 
spiration  and  accompanied  by  Mr.  Garfield.  He  did 
not  notice  the  heat  but  when  the  service  began  en 
tered  into  it  heartily. 

Once  as  he  started  into  the  church  a  tourist  under 
took  to  take  a  picture.  He  usually  consented  to  such 
arrangements,  but  he  immediately  raised  his  hand 
and  said,  "No  pictures  on  Sunday."  He  dressed  in 
a  Prince  Albert  coat.  He  gave  the  closest  attention 
to  the  sermon  by  the  pastor.  He  sang  every  hymn 
heartily.  The  church  was  too  poor  to  employ  a 
quartette.  They  had  no  music  except  the  congrega 
tional  singing.  The  pastor's  son  was  the  precentor. 
Those  who  sat  around  him  testified  that  they  could 
hear  his  voice  in  the  hymns,  ringing  loud  and  clear, 
and  usually  singing  from  memory.  He  regularly 
entered  into  the  communion  service.  It  was  cus 
tomary  for  the  members  to  come  to  the  front  and 
stand  around  the  altar  railing  until  they  had  re 
ceived  the  bread  and  wine  which  commemorated  the 
sacrificial  death  of  the  Saviour.  He  always  went  to 
the  first  table  and  stood  by  the  side  of  the  pastor's 
family.  He  then  returned  to  his  seat  and  remained 
there  until  everyone  had  taken  communion  and  the 
audience  was  dismissed.  ( See  cut  facing  page  329. ) 

When  the  regular  Sunday  service  was  over  and 
the  benediction  had  been  pronounced,  the  people 
stood  in  their  place.  Dr.  Schick  walked  down  to  the 
pew  where  stood  Mr.  Roosevelt,  shook  hands  with 
him,  took  him  by  the  arm  and  chatted  with  him  as 


354  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

together  they  walked  out  of  the  auditorium.  When 
Mr.  Roosevelt  had  departed  then  the  rest  of  the 
audience  filed  out. 

The  seats  in  the  church  were  always  reserved  for 
the  members.  Countless  numbers  of  people  wanted 
to  attend  but  could  not  be  admitted.  He  therefore 
worshiped  with  the  real  people,  none  of  them  wealthy 
and  all  of  them  among  the  so-called  common  people. 

He  had  a  constant  and  warm  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  church.  He  encouraged  the  building  of  the 
new  church,  he  laid  the  corner  stone,  handling  the 
trowel  to  do  it  while  President.  He  presented  two 
beautiful  bishop's  chairs  which  are  still  in  their 
place  in  the  pulpit.  He  made  appointments  during 
his  busy  day  at  the  White  House  to  discuss  church 
matters  with  the  pastor.  He  sent  flowers  to  adorn 
the  pulpit  every  Saturday  from  the  White  House 
greenhouses.  He  attended  a  reception  soon  after  he 
became  President  at  the  church,  to  which  only  the 
members  of  the  church  were  invited.  Before  leaving 
Washington  as  President,  in  the  busiest  part  of  his 
life,  he  attended  another  reception  for  the  member 
ship  only  and  spent  the  evening  conversing  with  the 
church  folk  and  bidding  them  good-by. 

He  greatly  loved  John,  the  younger  boy  in  the 
pastor's  family.  Learning  that  he  was  interested 
in  engines,  he  constantly  brought  him  books  on  the 
subject.  Every  Christmas  he  presented  him  a  strik 
ing  Christmas  present.  One  Sunday  just  before 
Christmas  he  carried  a  package,  nearly  a  yard  long, 
all  the  way  from  the  White  House.  At  the  close  of 
the  service  he  handed  it  to  John  and  told  him  not  to 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     355 

open  it  until  Christmas  day.  It  contained  a  lot  of 
tin  soldiers.  At  another  time  he  presented  John, 
who  still  shows  it,  a  cast  of  the  left  hand  of  Lincoln 
made  by  Volk  from  life.  He  told  John  that  he  him 
self  had  the  right  hand  and  he  would  be  glad  to  give 
him  the  left  hand. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  endeavored  to  be  thoroughly  con 
sistent.  He  issued  a  Thanksgiving  proclamation  in 
which  he  urged  the  people  to  assemble  in  their 
churches.  Dr.  Schick  called  the  President's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  he  attended  a  family  reunion  and 
did  not  himself  attend  church.  Mr.  Roosevelt  replied 
that  it  was  the  only  time  he  could  have  his  family 
together.  But  after  that,  recognizing  his  own  neg 
lect  of  the  exhortation,  he  omitted  the  suggestion 
that  the  people  assemble  in  their  churches.  The 
people  looked  upon  Mr.  Roosevelt  not  as  President 
but  as  a  fellow  worshiper,  a  genuine  disciple  of 
Christ,  who  with  them  gathered  strength  and  in 
spiration  from  the  communion  service,  from  the 
prayers,  and  from  the  public  worship.  He  carried 
no  pomp  and  expected  no  preferment,  but  came  as  a 
humble  disciple  of  the  lowly  Nazarene. 

"He  walked  three  miles  to  church,  wrote  the 
Rev.  George  E.  Talniage,  in  The  Churchman : 

During  the  gasless  Sundays  last  fall  [during  the  war], 
when  many  made  the  requirements  an  excuse  for  staying 
home,  he  set  the  example  of  loyalty  by  walking  the  three 
miles  from  Sagamore  Hill  to  the  village  church  and  back 
home  again.  And  this,  by  the  way,  was  shortly  after  his 
return  from  a  serious  operation  which  affected  his  walking 
not  a  little. 


356  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  did  not  make  a  show  of  church  attendance,  or 
some  carping  critic  might  have  declared  that  he  was 
a  hypocrite.  It  was  as  natural  for  him  to  attend  as 
it  was  to  retire  to  read  a  stimulating  book  or  look 
for  birds  in  the  woods  or  row  a  boat  in  the  crisp  fall 
air.  And  he  drew  strength  and  wisdom  from  it  just 
as  certainly  as  from  any  other  exercise. 

William  Allen  White,  in  a  personal  letter  to  the 
writer,  said: 

When  he  was  in  Emporia  in  1912,  Roosevelt  came  on 
Sunday  morning.  He  was  tired  after  a  long,  hard  cam 
paign;  weary  and  overstrained.  He  needed  sleep,  but  he 
got  up  and  went  to  church  and  it  was  then  that  we  had  the 
talk  about  God  and  religion.  He  went  to  a  very  small 
church,  I  think  the  smallest  congregation  we  have,  the 
Dutch  Reformed  church.  He  did  not  let  it  be  announced 
to  what  church  he  was  going,  because  he  wanted  to  avoid 
a  crowd  and  be  undisturbed  as  far  as  possible.  I  went  with 
him,  and  I  remember  this  curious  incident.  He  sang  with 
his  hands  behind  him,  without  the  book,  from  memory,  the 
entire  hymn,  "How  Firm  a  Foundation  Ye  Saints  of  the 
Lord,"  and  did  not  miss  a  word.  I  stood  by  him  and  was 
interested  to  see  if  at  any  time  he  would  get  to  da-da-ing 
or  la-la-ing,  but  no  word  escaped  him.  He  was  letter  perfect. 
There  were  few  people  in  the  church  and  no  reporters.  The 
reporters  had  all  gone  over  to  one  of  the  big  churches 
which  had  extended  an  invitation  to  the  Colonel  to  be 
present. 

Another  mark  of  his  wise  church  attendance  was 
that  he  always  attended  his  own  church  if  one  ex 
isted  where  he  was  stopping.  He  did  not  look  up  an 
attractive  "preacher"  and  a  noted  choir.  It  is  well 
to  love  all  the  churches,  but,  like  a  good  soldier,  the 


CHUKCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WOKK     357 

wise  man  will  select  one  to  serve  in  as  his  "company" 
where  he  can  best  train  and  fight. 

"On  his  travels  he  always  asked,"  said  Mrs.  Robin- 
son  to  me,  "if  there  was  a  Dutch  Reformed  church  in 
town,  and  chose  that  for  the  purpose  of  public  wor 
ship." 

"He  allowed  no  engagement  to  keep  him  from  go 
ing  to  church,"  said  Mr.  Loeb.  "While  he  felt  at 
home  in  any  church,  he  always  went  to  a  Dutch  Re 
formed  if  one  was  within  reach." 

It  is  well  to  remember  this  choice  of  and  loyalty 
to  one  church.  The  person  who  wanders  from  one 
church  to  another,  without  being  attached  to  any 
particular  church,  deludes  himself  when  he  calls  that 
practice  an  evidence  of  breadth ;  it  is  pure  shallow- 
ness,  and  usually  marks  the  spiritual  slacker.  He 
himself  said  to  Dr.  Iglehart : 

When  I  first  came  to  Washington  I  did  not  know  there 
was  any  Dutch  Reformed  church  here,  and  went  with  my 
wife  to  the  Episcopal  church.  But  on  becoming  Vice-Presi- 
dent  I  learned  that  there  was  a  little  obscure  red  brick 
building  of  that  denomination,  and  I  immediately  selected 
that  as  my  church.  The  new  building  has  since  been  erected. 
I  take  sentimental  satisfaction  in  worshiping  in  the  church 
of  my  fathers  (p.  196). 

He  commended  others  for  going  to  church.  The 
Rev.  D.  D.  Forsyth,  D.D.,  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions  and  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  Meth 
odist  church  in  Cheyenne,  in  a  letter  tells  me  of  the 
President  commending  a  soldier  when  he  met  him  at 
church. 


358  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  in  Cheyenne  on  the  Sabbath  day 
and  worshiped  in  our  church.  While  we  were  singing  the 
last  hymn  he  came  down  the  aisle  and  shook  hands  with 
me  as  the  preacher.  He  then  went  out  of  the  church  into 
the  vestioule.  You  remember  that  Fort  A.  D.  Russell  is 
just  outside  of  Cheyenne.  We  had  in  our  church  a  13th 
Artilleryman  from  the  Fort  who  had  been  an  usher  in  our 
church  for  a  number  of  years.  Theodore  Roosevelt  noticed 
the  artilleryman  ushering  in  the  aisle  near  him.  When  in 
the  vestibule  he  sent  for  the  13th  Artilleryman  and  in 
shaking  hands  with  him,  made  this  statement,  "I  wish  you 
to  understand,  sir,  that  I  think  you  are  at  your  post  of 
duty  and  I  certainly  congratulate  you  upon  having  a  part 
in  the  life  of  this  church." 

He  saw  the  flimsiness  of  the  excuses  against 
church  attendance  and  punctured  the  assertion  that 
one  could  worship  in  the  woods  or  at  home.  So  he 
advises : 

Therefore  on  Sunday  go  to  church.  Yes — I  know  all  the 
excuses,  I  know  that  one  can  worship  the  Creator  and  dedi 
cate  oneself  to  good  living  in  a  grove  of  trees,  or  by  a 
running  brook,  or  in  one's  own  house,  just  as  well  as  in 
church.  But  I  also  know  that  as  a  matter  of  cold  fact  the 
average  man  does  not  thus  worship  or  thus  dedicate  himself. 
If  he  stays  away  from  church,  he  does  not  spend  his  time 
in  good  works  or  in  lofty  meditation.  He  looks  over  the 
colored  supplement  of  the  newspaper,  he  yawns,  and  he 
finally  seeks  relief  from  the  mental  vacuity  of  isolation  by 
going  where  the  combined  mental  vacuity  of  many  partially 
relieves  the  mental  vacuity  of  each  particular  individual. 
(Ladies'  Home  Journal,  October,  1917,  by  permission). 

Continuing,  he  declared  that  Sunday  loafing  de 
moralizes  the  home: 
The  household  in  which  Sunday  is  treated  merely  as  a 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     359 

day  for  easy  self-indulgence  does  not  on  that  day  offer  an 
attractive  spectacle,  nor  does  it  afford  a  healthy  stimulus 
toward  right  living  for  the  children.  In  such  a  household 
the  master  of  the  house  generally  rises  late.  .  .  .  Having 
risen,  he  merely  dawdles  half-dressed,  smokes  and  reads  the 
Sunday  papers,  lounges  around  the  place  if  nothing  more 
attractive  offers  itself,  and  finally  goes  off  to  the  club  or 
other  lounging  place. 

The  mistress  of  the  household  stays  ...  in  bed  too,  with 
the  Sunday  paper,  or  with  a  cheap  magazine  or  cheap  novel; 
then  also  lounges  around  the  house  before  fully  dressing 
and  finally  visits  or  receives  visits  from  some  other  women 
who  also  regard  slipshod  absence  of  effort  as  the  proper 
characteristic  of  the  day. 

Church  attendance  offers  a  good  way  to  begin 
Sunday  and  to  enrich  the  day:  "If  he  has  merely 
worked  healthily  hard,  and  is  healthily  tired,  it  will 
be  from  every  standpoint  an  excellent  thing  for  him 
to  begin  his  Sunday  by  going  to  church." 

He  may  not  hear  a  good  sermon  at  church.  But  unless 
he  is  very  unfortunate  he  will  hear  a  sermon  by  a  good 
man.  .  .  .  Besides,  even  if  he  doesn't  hear  a  good  sermon, 
the  probabilities  are  that  he  will  listen  to  and  take  part  in 
reading  some  beautiful  passages  from  the  Bible.  .  .  .  More 
over,  he  will  probably  take  part  in  singing  some  good 
hymns.  He  will  meet  and  nod  to,  or  speak  to,  good,  quiet 
neighbors. 

He  finds  a  tonic  in  the  services  and  the  activities 
of  the  church: 

Church  attendance  and  church  work  of  some  kind  mean 
both  the  cultivation  of  the  habit  of  feeling  some  responsi 
bility  for  others  and  the  sense  of  braced  moral  strength 
which  prevents  a  relaxation  of  one's  fiber. 


360  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

He  believed  that  labor  troubles  would  be  lessened 
if  the  leaders  of  labor  and  capital  worked  together 
in  the  church : 

Surely  half  of  our  labor  troubles  would  disappear  if  a 
sufficient  number  of  the  leaders  on  both  sides  had  worked 
for  common  ends  in  the  same  churches,  Young  Men's  Chris 
tian  Associations,  or  other  like  organizations,  and  ap 
proached  one  another's  positions  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
understand  them  and  understanding,  respect  them. 

He  contends  that  Sunday  must  not  be  made  an 
open  holiday,  and  to  use  it  solely  for  pleasure  will 
cause  one  to  suffer  deterioration.  He  classifies  as 
deluded  and  foolish  those  who  loaf  around  the  house 
with  those  who  have  more  energy  but  waste  it  and 

habitually  spend  the  entire  day  in  the  motor  or  take  part  in 
some  form  of  dress  parade,  or  visit  brightly  lighted  res 
taurants.  I  seriously  doubt  whether  people  such  as  these 
even  achieve  their  purpose.  I  doubt  whether  the  frank 
pursuit  of  nothing  but  amusement  has  really  brought  as 
much  happiness  as  if  it  had  been  alloyed  with  and  supple 
mented  by  some  minimum  meeting  of  obligation  toward 
others.  There  are  enough  holidays  for  most  of  us  which 
can  quite  properly  be  devoted  to  pure  holiday  making. 

He  urges  laymen  to  aid  in  providing  and  safe 
guarding  real  happiness  creators: 

Let  every  layman  interested  in  church  work  .  .  .  pro 
ceed  on  the  assumption  that  innocent  pleasure  which  does 
not  interfere  with  things  even  more  desirable  is  in  itself  a 
good;  that  this  is  as  true  of  one  day  of  the  week  as  of 
another;  and  that  one  function  of  the  church  should  be 
the  encouragement  of  happiness  in  small  things  as  well  as 
in  large. 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     361 

Continuing  the  objections  to  a  Sunday  of  pleasure 
seeking  he  asserts  that  church  attendance  will  give 
real  recreation: 

In  ordinary  cases,  as  regards  most  men  and  women,  the 
performance  of  their  duties  to  the  church,  to  themselves, 
and  to  others,  on  Sunday  represents  merely  such  "toning 
up"  of  their  systems  as  will  enable  them  to  profit  more  hy 
rest  and  amusement  during  the  remainder  of  the  day. 

The  whole  article  carries  irrefutable  argument  for 
the  church. 

"Bill"  Sewall  told  me  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  never 
fished,  hunted,  or  played  games  on  Sunday,  though 
he  would  go  on  long  tramps.  "Once  because  we  were 
so  far  from  a  church  that  we  lost  track  of  the  days 
he  mistook  Sunday  for  Saturday,  went  hunting," 
said  Bill,  "and  was  greatly  embarrassed  when  he 
discovered  it." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  jealous  of  his  time  and  hence 
followed  no  practice  that  did  not  equip  him  to  be  of 
largest  service  to  mankind.  If,  therefore,  he  re 
ceived  no  definite  and  otherwise  unobtainable  bene 
fits,  or  if  those  benefits  could  have  been  obtained  in 
a  better  way,  he  would  not  have  continued  to  attend 
church  himself  or  have  urged  others  to  do  so.  When 
he  went,  however,  he  used  the  means — ritual,  songs, 
prayer  and  sermon — which  centuries  of  experience 
have  proved  necessary  to  make  a  service  helpful. 

He  is  convinced  that  the  clergyman  alone  is  unable 
to  make  a  church  thrive: 

There  are  plenty  of  clergymen  of  all  denominations  who 
do  obey  this  law  [of  service] ;  they  render  inestimable  serv- 


362  KOOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

ice.  Yet  these  men  can  do  but  little  unless  keen,  able, 
zealous  laymen  give  them  aid;  and  this  aid  is  beyond  com 
parison  most  effective  when  rendered  by  men  who  are  them 
selves  active  participants  in  the  work  of  the  church  (The 
Ladies'  Home  Journal,  October,  1917). 

The  question :  Will  a  Christian  show  his  genuine 
ness  by  being  a  church  member  and  by  doing  church 
work?  is  answered: 

Every  man  who  is  a  Christian  at  all  should  join  some 
church  organization.  I  advocate  a  man's  joining  in  church 
work  for  the  sake  of  showing  his  faith  by  his  works.  .  .  . 
Micah's  insistence  upon  loving  mercy  and  doing  justice 
and  walking  humbly  with  the  Lord  will  suffice  if  lived  up 
to,  and  Amos  and  Isaiah  and  the  Psalms,  and  the  Gospels 
and  Paul  and  James  will  furnish  sufficient  instruction  for 
both  the  men  who  are  simple  enough  and  the  men  who  are 
wise  enough. 

He  feels  confident  that  "saving  the  soul"  will  then 
solve  itself: 

Let  the  man  not  think  overmuch  of  saving  his  own  soul; 
that  will  come  of  itself,  if  he  tries  in  good  earnest  to  look 
after  his  neighbor,  both  in  soul  and  in  body — remembering 
always  that  he  had  better  leave  his  neighbor  alone  rather 
than  show  arrogance  or  tactlessness  in  the  effort  to  help 
him. 

Practical  service  such  as  "visiting  and  comforting 
the  widow  and  the  fatherless  and  the  sore  stricken" 
is  also  commended. 

He  further  admonishes:  "Unless  it  is  the  poor 
man's  church  it  is  not  a  Christian  church  at  all  in 
any  real  sense."  The  rich  man  needs  it,  but  he  must 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WOKK     363 

be  a  real  brother  among  others.  "The  church  in  a 
mining  or  factory  town  or  railway  center  must  be 
a  leading  force  in  getting  the  best  possible  living 
conditions  for  the  people."  In  another  address  he 
enlarges  the  idea  of  social  service  to  the  neighbor 
hood.  Unless  the  church  concerns  itself 

with  their  chance  to  open  a  cleft  upward  into  the  life  of 
full  development,  it  has  forfeited  its  right  to  the  foremost 
place  in  the  regard  of  men.  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know 
them.  We  judge  a  man  nowadays  by  his  conduct  rather 
than  by  his  dogma. 

In  an  address  celebrating  the  Centennial  of  Pres 
byterian  Home  Missions  May  20,  1902,  he  insists  that 
the  church  must  lead  in  meeting  the  new  city  prob 
lems : 

The  forces  for  evil,  as  our  great  cities  grow,  become  more 
concentrated,  more  menacing  to  the  community  and  if  the 
community  is  to  go  forward  and  not  back,  they  must  be 
met  and  overcome  by  forces  for  good  that  have  grown  in 
corresponding  degree.  More  and  more  in  the  future  our 
churches  must  realize  that  we  have  a  right  to  expect  that 
they  shall  take  the  lead  in  shaping  these  forces  for  good. 

This  wise  disciple  had  not  been  led  astray,  how 
ever,  as  so  many  humanity  lovers  have  been,  by  ex 
pecting  better  social  conditions  alone  to  uplift  and 
deliver  man.  He  recognizes  old-fashioned  "conver 
sion,"  the  existence  of  a  mystical  spiritual  power 
and  the  work  of  such  evangelists  as  "Billy"  Sunday 
and  the  gifted  preacher : 

The  betterment  may  come  in  many  ways.    The  great  ex- 


364  KOOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

horter  or  preacher,  the  Billy  Sunday  or  Phillips  Brooks, 
the  priest  or  clergyman  or  rabbi,  the  cardinal  or  bishop,  or 
revivalist  or  Salvation  Army  commander,  may,  by  sheer  fer 
vor  and  intensity,  and  by  kindling  some  flame  of  the  spirit 
which  mystics  have  long  known  to  be  real  and  which 
scientists  now  admit  to  be  real,  rouse  numbers  of  consciences 
to  life  and  free  seared  souls  from  sin;  and  then  the  roused 
conscience  and  the  freed  soul  will  teach  the  bodies  in 
which  they  dwell  how  to  practice  the  great  law  of  service 
(The  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  October,  1917). 

He  paid  high  tribute,  as  shown  in  another  place, 
to  the  early  pioneer  circuit-rider  in  the  West.  He 
insisted  that  no  community  was  safe  or  could  pro 
gress  without  the  presence  and  work  of  the  church 
in  those  early  days. 

No  Indians  are  civilized  unless  they  were  first 
Christianized.  While  civil  service  commissioner  he 
visited  the  Indian  reservations  and  expressed  a  high 
estimate  of  the  missionary  work  among  these  "na 
tive"  Americans. 

I  spent  twice  the  time  out  here  I  intended  to  because  I 
became  interested,  and  traveled  all  over  the  reservations 
to  see  what  was  being  done,  especially  by  the  missionaries. 
For  it  needed  no  time  at  all  to  see  that  the  great  factors 
in  uplifting  the  Indian  were  the  men  who  were  teaching  him 
to  become  a  Christian  citizen.  When  I  came  back  I  wished 
it  had  been  in  my  power  to  convey  my  experience  to  those 
people — often  well-meaning  people — who  speak  of  the  in 
efficiency  of  missions.  I  think  if  they  could  realize  a  tenth 
part  of  the  work  not  only  being  done,  but  that  has  been  done 
out  there,  they  would  realize  that  no  more  practical  work 
or  more  productive  of  fruit  for  civilization  could  be  named 
than  the  work  carried  on  by  the  men  and  women  who  give 
their  lives  to  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  mankind. 


CHUECH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK    365 

It  has  been  common  to  ridicule  foreign  missions 
as  carried  on  by  the  churches  and  to  freely  charge 
that  the  time  and  money  thus  expended  was  wasted. 
This  plea  is  shallowly  covered  by  a  phrase,  "Charity 
begins  at  home."  The  civilized  world  is  less  free 
in  making  such  thoughtless  remarks  now  than  be 
fore  the  Great  War.  If  it  had  not  been  for  Chris 
tian  truths  and  followers  in  India  and  other  Mo 
hammedan  lands,  the  millions  of  Mohammedans 
would  have  answered  the  call  of  the  Turks  to  help 
the  German  cause.  The  unselfish  spirit  that  sent  us 
into  the  Philippines  to  lift  a  hopeless  people,  some 
of  whom  were  head-hunters  and  cannibals,  was 
purely  missionary  and  would  not  have  appeared  in 
any  but  a  Christian  nation.  And  Mr.  Roosevelt 
sturdily  upheld  that  program.  The  missionary  spirit 
fathered  the  idea,  for  example,  of  sending  over  one 
thousand  school-teachers  to  the  Philippines.  The 
doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  will  not  permit 
us  to  build  a  fence  of  isolation  around  our  nation. 
God  discarded  Israel  when  she  failed  to  succor  and 
lift  the  world.  Cuba's  helpless  cry  sent  us  into  war 
with  Spain  and  the  Allies'  plight  drew  us  into  the 
World  War. 

It  was,  therefore,  to  be  expected  that  this  student 
of  the  Bible,  who  had  also  been  courageous  in  carry 
ing  out  the  Philippine  policy  and  in  urging  us  into 
the  Great  War  should  heartily  support  the  world 
program  for  the  church  which  is  commonly  called 
"foreign  missions." 

The  rector  of  the  Episcopalian  (Mr.  Roosevelt's) 
church  at  Oyster  Bay  tells  us  that  one  hot  Sunday 


3GG  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

morning  a  missionary  bishop  preached,  and  it  was 
announced  that  the  next  Sunday  a  collection  would 
be  taken  for  his  cause.  As  the  choir  was  being  dis 
missed  Mr.  Roosevelt  came  up  and  slipped  a  bill 
into  the  hands  of  the  rector  with  the  brief  words,  "I 
will  not  be  here  next  Sunday  but  want  to  do  my 
part."  Continuing,  the  rector  says: 

We  have  a  little  missionary  group  known  as  Saint  Hilda's 
which  meets  each  week  for  sewing,  to  which  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
belongs  and  in  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  took  great  interest. 
It  was  their  custom  to  invite  members  to  a  reception  every 
year.  During  the  Presidential  term  one  of  these  receptions 
was  on  the  Mayflower,  then  anchored  in  the  harbor.  It 
was  a  highly  honored  group  to  be  permitted  this  friendship, 
for  it  was  a  sincere  and  personal  relationship.  Never  a 
sorrow  entered  their  homes  but  sympathy  came  from  Saga 
more  Hill,  and  not  infrequently  a  personal  visit  as  well. 

The  President  had  a  very  high  estimate  of  a  for 
eign  missionary.  When  on  a  visit  to  the  White 
House,  Dr.  Iglehart  told  of  his  son  going  out  as  a 
missionary  to  Japan,  the  President  with  deep  feel 
ing,  said: 

Oh,  I  am  so  glad.  ...  I  have  told  you  so  many  times 
that  I  consider  the  Christian  ministry  as  the  highest  calling 
in  the  world.  ...  As  high  an  estimate  as  I  have  of  the 
ministry,  I  consider  that  the  climax  of  that  calling  is  to  go 
out  in  missionary  service,  as  your  son  is  doing.  It  takes 
mighty  good  stuff  to  be  a  missionary  of  the  right  type.  .  .  . 
It  takes  a  deal  of  courage  to  break  the  shell  and  go  twelve 
thousand  miles  away,  to  risk  an  unfriendly  climate,  to 
master  a  foreign  language,  ...  to  adopt  strange  customs, 
to  turn  aside  from  earthly  fame  and  emolument  and  most  of 
all,  to  say  good-by  to  home  and  the  faces  of  the  loved  ones 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     367 

virtually  forever.    And  yet  your  boy  does  not  count  this 
going  as  a  hardship  at  all,  but  as  an  honor. 

The  President  then  suggested,  on  his  own  initia 
tive,  that  he  was  going  to  put  Uncle  Sam  back  of  the 
boy  by  writing  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
Griscom,  the  United  States  minister  to  Japan.  Some 
time  after  that  Dr.  Iglehart  told  the  President  that 
the  letter  had  given  the  "boy"  an  unusual  start,  since 
they  concluded  him  to  be  a  distinguished  person 
when  he  could  bring  a  letter  from  "so  great  a  man," 
and  that  as  a  result,  they  gave  him  unusual  liberties. 
After  Dr.  Iglehart  had  thanked  him  the  President 
remarked : 

You  noticed  that  I  sent  the  letter  to  Mr.  Griscom  as  an 
official  document  and  asked  him  as  a  representative  of  our 
government  to  stand  behind  your  son  in  his  mission?  I 
did  not  consider  that  America  had  any  relation  to  Japan 
which  is  higher  or  more  far-reaching  than  the  education, 
morals,  and  religion  that  the  missionary  carries  to  that 
country  (Iglehart,  pp.  296-298). 

At  the  close  of  the  Boxer  Rebellion  in  1900  China 
agreed  to  pay  our  government  an  indemnity  of  $25,- 
000,000.  Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  a  long-time  mission 
ary  in  China,  later  suggested  to  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott 
that  since  that  sum  more  than  met  our  "claims"  it 
would  be  a  strategic  and  profitable  thing  to  return 
one  half  of  the  money  to  China.  He  proposed,  how 
ever,  that  China  pledge  to  use  the  money  to  send 
students  to  America  and  to  educate  others  in  a  Chi 
nese  institution.  Dr.  Abbott  presented  the  plan  to 
President  Roosevelt,  who  was  much  interested  and 


368  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

made  an  appointment  to  see  Dr.  Smith,  who  pre 
sented  the  plan  as  it  was  later  adopted  by  America. 
Mr.  Lawrence  Abbott  accompanied  Dr.  Smith  on 
this  visit  to  the  President.  Ten  years  afterward  he 
attended  a  luncheon  given  at  Princeton  for  Professor 
Robert  McNutt  McElroy,  who  was  going  out  as  the 
first  American  exchange  professor  to  China.  The 
Professor  asked  Mr.  Abbott  about  the  reported  origin 
of  the  "returned  indemnity"  so  that  he  might  speak 
authoritatively  in  China.  Mr.  Abbott  wrote  Mr. 
Roosevelt  at  Oyster  Bay,  on  January  24,  who  replied : 

My  memory  agrees  with  yours  about  Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith. 
I  had  forgotten  his  name;  but  I  know  that  it  was  through 
your  father  that  I  first  became  interested  in  using  that  in 
demnity  for  educational  purposes.  The  idea  was  suggested 
to  me  as  you  describe  it;  and  then  I  asked  Root  to  take  it 
up  and  put  it  in  operation. 

The  friendship  of  China  was  insured  and  a  chain 
of  influence  started  which  is  rapidly  building  a  Chris 
tian  republic  there.  A  large  school  was  erected  by 
the  government  with  part  of  the  money,  and  every 
teacher  in  it  is  a  Christian.  It  is  liberally  patron 
ized.  In  addition  the  fund  enables  scores  of  Chinese 
students  to  study  in  this  country.  And  all  of  it 
came  about  through  the  vision  of  a  foreign  mission 
ary  and  the  President's  confidence  in  a  representa 
tive  of  that  profession. 

The  Colonel,  in  his  world  trip,  saw  much  of  mis 
sions  and  most  heartily  approved  them  and  went  out 
of  his  way  many  times  to  aid  in  dedicating  mission 
buildings.  Concerning  Africa,  he  said: 


CHURCH  ATTENDANCE  AND  WORK     3G9 

The  great  good  done  by  missionary  effort  in  Africa  has 
been  incalculable.  The  effort  is  made  consistently  to  teach 
the  natives  how  to  live  a  more  comfortable,  useful  and 
physically  and  morally  cleanly  life,  not  under  white  condi 
tions,  but  under  the  conditions  which  he  will  actually  have 
to  face  when  he  goes  back  to  his  people  to  live  among  them, 
and  if  things  go  well,  to  be  in  his  turn  an  unconscious  mis 
sionary  for  good. 

He  shows  how  Christianity  saved  Uganda  from 
limitless  suffering : 

The  figures  will  show  this,  that  out  of  about  ten  millions 
of  people,  nearly  seven  millions  were  killed  during  the 
years  of  the  Mahdi  uprising.  Now,  that  is  what  Christian 
ity  saved  Uganda  from;  that  is  what  missionary  effort  saved 
Uganda  from.  It  saved  it  from  sufferings  of  which  we,  in 
our  sheltered  and  civilized  lives,  can  literally  form  only  the 
most  imperfect  idea,  and  I  wish  that  the  well-meaning 
people  who  laugh  at  or  decry  missionary  work  could  realize 
what  the  missionary  work  has  done  right  there  in  Middle 
Africa  (The  Daily  News'  "New  Stories  of  Roosevelt"). 

While  he  did  encourage  the  medical  mission  work 
he  readily  saw  that  this  kind  of  work,  if  it  endured, 
must  ultimately  reach  and  stir  the  soul  and  so  he 
gives  encouragement  to  believe  that  this  will  be  the 
result  as  he  describes  a  visit  to  Sobat,  while  speaking 
at  Khartum : 

I  stopped  a  few  days  ago  at  the  little  mission  at  the 
Sobat.  .  .  .  From  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  around 
there  were  patients  who  had  come  in  to  be  attended  to  by 
the  doctors  in  the  mission.  ...  I  do  not  know  a  better 
type  of  missionary  than  the  doctor  who  comes  out  here  and 
does  his  work  well  and  gives  his  whole  heart  to  it.  He  is 
doing  practical  work  of  the  most  valuable  type  for  civiliza- 


370  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

tion.  ...  If  you  make  it  evident  to  a  man  that  you  are 
sincerely  concerned  in  bettering  his  body,  he  will  be  much 
more  ready  to  believe  that  you  are  trying  to  better  his  soul. 

The  Chicago  Tribune  commissioned  John  Callan 
O'Laughlin  to  proceed  up  the  Nile  and  meet  Mr. 
Roosevelt  at  the  first  possible  point  after  he  came  out 
of  the  "wilds."  Mr.  O'Laughlin  used  rare  ingenuity 
and  spared  no  expense  in  being  the  first  one  to  greet 
him  and  found  him  at  "Reuk."  Soon  afterward  he 
was  eating  dinner  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  his  boat 
The  Dal.  Mr.  O'Laughlin  recounts  the  first  things 
Mr.  Roosevelt  mentioned  at  this  dinner : 

He  spoke  of  the  various  missions  he  had  visited,  of  the 
white  souls  and  dauntless  courage  of  these  agents  of  Chris 
tianity  who  are  martyrs  to  the  call  of  duty  (O'Laughlin, 
Through  Europe  with  Roosevelt,  p.  36). 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  high  estimate  of  the  church  and 
her  work  is  the  calm  tribute  of  a  great  and  experi 
enced  man  of  entire  sincerity.  His  sturdy  health, 
masculine  traits,  and  mental  independence  would 
preclude  the  church  from  his  strong  commendation 
if,  as  some  so  easily  assert,  it  is  merely  a  crutch  for 
the  weak  or  a  subterfuge  for  the  thoughtless.  His 
regular  patronage,  high  praise,  and  earnest  advocacy 
underwrite  the  church  as  a  vital  institution. 


BOOKS  USED  AS  REFERENCE 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Man  as  I  Knew  Him.  By  Fer 
dinand  C.  Iglehart.  Christian  Herald. 

Bill  SewalVs  Story  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  William 
Wingate  Sewall.  Harper  and  Brothers. 

The  Boy's  Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Herman  Hage- 
dorn.  Harper  and  Brothers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  William  Roscoe  Thayer.  Hough- 
ton  Mifflin  Company. 

The  Life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  William  Draper 
Lewis.  The  John  C.  Winston  Co. 

Impressions  of  Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Lawrence  F.  Ab 
bott.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Company. 

Theodore  Roosevelt — The  Logic  of  His  Career.  By  Charles 
G.  Washburn.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

Oliver  Cromwell.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  Boy  and  the  Man.  By  James  Mor 
gan.  The  Macmillan  Company. 

Talks  with  T.  R.  By  John  J.  Leary,  Jr.  Houghton  Mif 
flin  Company. 

Personal  Memoirs  of  the  Home  Life  of  the  Late  Theodore 
Roosevelt.  By  Albert  Loren  Cheney.  Cheney  Pub 
lishing  Company. 

Theodore  Roosevelt's  Letters  to  His  Children.  Edited  by 
Joseph  B.  Bishop.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  An  Autobiography.  Charles  Scrib 
ner's  Sons. 

American  Ideals  and  Other  Essays.  By  Theodore  Roose 
velt.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Edmond  Lester  Pearson.  The 
Macmillan  Company. 

371 


372  ROOSEVELT'S  RELIGION 

Theodore  Roosevelt — The  Citizen.  By  Jacob  Riis.  The  Mac- 
millan  Company. 

Camping  and  Tramping  with-  Roosevelt.  By  John  Bur 
roughs.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

Average  Americans.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt.  G.  P.  Put 
nam's  Sons. 

The  Man  Roosevelt.  By  Francis  E.  Leupp.  D.  Appleton 
&  Company. 

The  Most  Interesting  American.  By  Julian  Street.  The 
Century  Company. 

Four  Americans.    By  Henry  A.  Beers.     Yale  University. 

A  Square  Deal.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt.  The  Allendale 
Press. 

The  American  Idea.  By  Joseph  B.  Gilda.  Dodd,  Mead  & 
Company. 

Roosevelt,  His  Life  Meaning  and  Messages.  Vol.  I,  The 
Roosevelt  Policy.  The  Current  Literature  Company. 

American  Statesmen.  By  John  T.  Morse,  Jr.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company. 

The  Many  Sided  Roosevelt.  By  George  William  Douglas. 
Dodd,  Mead  &  Company. 

A  Week  in  the  White  House.     By  William  Bayard  Hale. 

Memoirs  of  the  White  House.  By  Col.  W.  H.  Crook.  Little, 
Brown  &  Company,  Boston. 

Theodore  Roosevelt.  By  Charles  Eugene  Banks.  S.  Stone, 
Chicago. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  Patriot  and  Statesman.  By  Robert 
C.  V.  Meyers.  P.  W.  Ziegler  &  Company,  Chicago. 

Theodore  Roosevelt's  Policy  (See  Theodore  Roosevelt,  His 
Life  Meaning  and  Message,  Vol.  I ) . 

The  Conservation  of  Womanhood  and  Childhood.  By  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt.  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Company. 

African  and  European  Addresses.  By  Theodore  Roosevelt. 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


BOOKS  USED  AS  REFERENCE    373 

The  Winning  of  the  West.    By  Theodore  Roosevelt.     G.  P. 

Putnam's  Sons. 
From  the  Jungle  TJirougJi  Europe  with  Roosevelt.    By  John 

Callan    O'Laughlin.      Chappie    Publishing    Co.,    Ltd., 

Boston. 

Realizable  Ideals  (The  Earl  Lectures).    By  Theodore  Roose 
velt.    Whitaker  &  Ray-Wiggin  Co.,  San  Francisco. 
The  Great  Adventure.     By  Theodore   Roosevelt.     Charles 

Scribner's  Sons. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  and  His   Time,  Vols.   I   and   II.     By 

Joseph  Bucklin  Bishop.     Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
Americanism    and    Preparedness.      Speeches    of    Theodore 

Roosevelt.     The  Mail  and  Express  Job  Print. 
Roosevelt  vs.  Newett.    A  Transcript  of  the  Testimony  Taken 

and  Depositions  read  at  Marquette,  Michigan. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  as  an  Undergraduate.    By  Donald  Wil- 

helm.     John  W.  Luce  &  Co.,  publishers. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Lawrence,  referred 
to,  92;  quoted,  120,  167, 
189,  205,  212,  240,  241, 
242;  letter  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt  to,  267;  cited,  368 

Abbott  Dr.  Lyman  cited,  17, 
77;  quoted,  156,  254,  263; 
strong  testimony  of,  234 

Addams,  Jane,  quoted,  205 

Africa,  return  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt  from,  132 

Allen,  Governor  Henry  J. 
quoted,  232 

America,  challenge  issued 
to  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  258 

American  Red  Cross,  the, 
forerunner  of,  24 

"Applied  Ethics,"  lecture  on 
by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  250,  252, 
253 

Asceticism,  260 

Atheist,  no  use  for,  239 

Attacks,  readiness  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  for,  127 

Attempted  assassination  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  297 

Attendance,  church,  336; 
combined  with  work,  341, 
358,  359 

Baldwin,  Miss  Josephine  L., 
incident  reported  by,  258 

Barnes,  William,  libel  suit 
of,  166;  charges  against, 
213;  significant  words  of, 
303 

Barton,  Bruce,  quoted,  17 

Beck,  James  M.,  quoted,  210 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  re 
ferred  to,  74 

Beecher,  Lyman,  referred  to, 
74 

Begbie,  Harped,  269 


Beveridge,   Senator,   quoted, 

91,  232;  referred  to,  128 
Bible,  Mr.  Roosevelt's  opin 
ion  of  the,  305 
Bible-reading  in  schools,  bill 

for  compulsory,  184 
Bible     Society,     entertained 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  306 
Bible  texts  used  for  address 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  312 
Bishop,    J.    B.,    44;    quoted, 

48,  191,  240,  243,  288 
Elaine,    James    G.,    nomina 
tion    of   opposed    by    Mr. 
Roosevelt,    220 
"Blues,"      Mr.      Roosevelt's 

fight  against  them,  168 
Bok,  Edward,  an  experience 
of    described,    160;     story 
told  by,  172 

"Boss,"    differentiated    from 
"leader,"   116;   Mr.  Roose 
velt's  treatment  of  a,  193 
Boutras     Pasha,     assassina 
tion  of,  216 

Bowman,  Rev.  W.  I.,  quoted, 
234;  referred  to,  309;  in 
cident  concerning  daugh 
ter  of,  159 

Boy    Scouts,    Mr.    Roosevelt 
offered  leadership  of,   172 
Brady,  Governor,  cited,  25 
Brownsville   Negro  soldiers' 

case,  114,  217 
Burroughs,  John,  quoted,  90, 

138,  223 
Business    interests,    special 

demands  of,  102 
Butler,    President    Nicholas 
Murray,   17;    quoted,   164, 
228,  238,  344 

Canteen,  army,  driven  out, 
299 


375 


37G 


INDEX 


Carow,  Miss   Edith  Kermit, 

43 
Centennial    of    Presbyterian 

Home  Missions,  363 
Chaffee,    General,    promoted 
by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  148 

"Character  and  Civiliza 
tion,"  lecture  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  252 

Charity,  always  secretly 
dispensed  by  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  153 

Chautauquas,  offers  made  by 
to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  206 

Cheney,  Mr.,  quoted,  144, 
152,  153 

Chicago  Convention  (1912) 
219,  267;  scene  at,  de 
scribed,  320 

Children,  dislike  of  con 
demned  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
214;  punishment  of,  316 

China,  frienship  of,  368 

Christian,  important  quali 
ties  of  a,  260,  261,  262 

Christian  men  successful, 
111 

Christians,  not  expected  to 
be  flawless,  16 

Christ  Episcopal  Church, 
Oyster  Bay,  346 

Church,  effect  of,  on  com 
munity,  327-329;  influence 
of,  332;  joined  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  341 

"Circuit  riders,"  gratitude 
to,  330 

City  Reform  Club,  speech  at, 
72 

Civil  Service  Commission, 
116 

Clemenceau,  Benjamin 
Eugene,  plea  of,  225 

Clinton,  Mrs,  quoted,  41 

Cole,  Samuel  Valentine, 
poem  by,  113 


Communion,  taken  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  334 

Congress,  a  message  to  re 
specting  corporations  and 
labor,  183 

Coolidge,  Vice-President, 
quoted,  92 

Coudert,  P.  R.,  quoted,  66 

Cowboy,  experience  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  with,  115 

Crane,  Frank,  quoted,  137 

Credal  tests,  247 

Crook,  W.  H.,  quoted,  43 

Crown  Princess  of  Sweden, 
incident  concerning,  287 

Cuba,  110 

Cuninghame,  R.  J.,  quoted, 
298 

Curtis,  George  William,  ac 
tion  of,  81 

Cutler,  Arthur,  quoted,  76 

Davenport,  Homer,  188 
Death,  calmly  considered  by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  268 
Death  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  203 
Depew,  Chauncey,  action  of, 

106 
Dewey,   Admiral,   criticized, 

188 

"Dignity  of  Labor,  The,"  ad 
dress  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  45 
Divorce,  286 
Dogma,  theological,  257 
Domestic  life  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  284 

Direct  Primary  Bill,  189 
Dishonesty,  Mr.  Roosevelt's 

view  of,  98 

Drinking    and     prohibition, 
292;       attitude      of      Mr. 
Roosevelt   toward,    297 
Dunne,  Peter  Finley,   150 
Duties,      public,      fearlessly 
performed,  134 

Earl  Lectures,  312 


INDEX 


377 


Edward,  King,  incident  con 
nected  with  funeral  of,  159 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  cited,  44 

Egotism,  admitted,  113;  a 
name  wrongly  given  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  intense 
patriotism,  116 

Eighteenth  Amendment 

favored  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
302 

Enemies  utilized  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  158 

European  Addresses,  205 

Familiarity  with  Mr.  Roose 
velt  rebuked,  155 

"Favors,"  attitude  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  toward,  283 

Flunkeyism  offensive  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  131 

Foch,  General,  12 

"Foreign"  cases,  288 

Foreign  missions,  wrongly 
ridiculed,  365 

Forsyth,  Rev.  D.  D.,  quoted, 

oro 

Franchise  tax  bill,  105,  185 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  a  reli 
gious  man,  12 

French  people,  message  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt  to,  208 

Fulton,  Robert,  20 

Garfield,  James  R.,  quoted, 
232 

Gaynor,  Mayor,  referred  to, 
108 

General  Conference,  Meth 
odist  Episcopal,  address 
to,  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  263 

Germans,  indictment  of,  220 

Germany  forced  to  with 
draw  from  South  America, 
103 

Gideons,  the,  work  of,  com 
mended,  318 

Gilder,  Richard  Watson, 
quoted,  163 


Gladstone,        William       E., 

quoted,  11,  199 
Globe,    the   New    York,   edi 
torial  in,  225 
God,  belief  in  expressed  by 

Mr.   Roosevelt,   166 
Golden  Rule,  the,  denned  by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  93 
Gompers,    Samuel,    rebuked 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  95 
Grace      Reformed      Church, 

349 
Graft,    political,    fought    by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  99,  104,  218 
Great    Britain,    sidestepping 

"statesmen"  in,  216 
Great    Teacher,    the,    words 

of,  323 

Grey,  Sir  Edward,  217 
Griscom,  Lloyd,  367 
Gun  play,  bluff  called  by  Mr. 

Roosevelt,  80 

Haakon,  King,  178 

Hadley,  Governor,  action  of, 

123 
Hagedorn,     Herman,     cited, 

211;    statement    prepared 

by,  245;    quoted,  249 
Haig,  General,  12 
Hale,       William       Bayard, 

quoted,  208 
Hall,  Charles  C.,  lecture  by, 

252 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  20 
Hanna,  Senator,  quoted,  141 
Harding,   Warren   G.,  letter 

written    by,    facing    page 

10;  quoted,  229 
Harrison,   Benjamin,  served 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  122 
Harvard    Republican     Club, 

Bible     presented     to     Mr. 

Roosevelt  by,  305 
Hay,  John,  quoted,  119,  129 
Hayes,     President     Ruther 
ford  B.,  cited,  22 


378 


INDEX 


History,  American,  made  by 
Christians,  11 

Hoar,  Senator,  visit  of,  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  172 

Holmes,  Justice  Oliver  Wen 
dell,  269 

"How  Firm  a  Foundation," 
only  hymn  sung  at  fun 
eral  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  238 

Hughes,  Hon.  Charles  E., 
quoted,  53;  attitude  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  toward,  150; 
incident  related  by,  156; 
referred  to,  337 

Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  18 

Ideals,    high,    practiced    by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  204 
"Ideals  of  Citizenship,"  lec 
ture  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  on, 

250 
Iglehart,    Dr.,    quoted,    204, 

333;      interview     reported 

by,  264;    referred  to,  273, 

326,   366 
Illiteracy  among  Americans, 

119 
Immigrants,    spoken    to    by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  322 
Immorality  in  men,  276 
"In  God  we  trust,"  matter  of 

taking    the    words    from 

coin,    248,    249 
Indians,      American,     work 

among,  364 
"Influence,"       not       within 

reach  of,  283 
Irritable,       Mr.       Roosevelt 

never  known  to  be,  114 

Jefferson,  Rev.  Charles  E., 
quoted,  175 

Jesus,  program  of,  followed 
by  great  men,  11 ;  divinity 
of,  accepted  by  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  259 


Justice,  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
method  of  applying,  180 

Kaiser,  the,  incident  rela 
tive  to,  135;  failure  of,  to 
patronize  President 
Roosevelt,  156 

King,  Henry  C.,  lecture  by, 
252 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  cable 
from,  106 

Kitten,  picked  up  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  158 

Knox,    Attorney-General,    58 

Kohlsaat,  Herman,  quoted, 
277 

Krauskoff,  Rabbi,  quoted, 
345 

Lambert,      Dr.      Alexander, 

cited,   17,   50;    quoted,   35, 

57,    70,    88,    120,    139,    180, 

187,  251,  257,  268,  272,  278, 

286,  319 
Leary,  Mr.,  quoted,  88,  233, 

240,  243,  252,  273,  280,  290, 

336,  344 

Lee,  Benjamin,  43 
Lee,  Gerald,  quoted,  93 
Legislation,  interference  of, 

Mr.   Roosevelt    to    secure, 

115 
Legislature,  Mr.  Roosevelt's 

first  term  in,  101 
Letter,  a  rebuke,  addressed 

to    Christian    F.    Reisner, 

281;  the  matter  explained, 

282 
Lewis,  Dean,  quoted,  35,  105, 

223,    271;    cited,    74,    155, 

200,  233 
Libel    suit,    "intemperance," 

won     by     Mr.     Roosevelt, 

212;  incident  of,  279;  trial 

of  case,  293-297 
License,  saloon,  rate  raised, 

184 


INDEX 


379 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  story  of, 
56;  Mr.  Roosevelt's  re 
spect  for,  129 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  re 
ferred  to,  84,  123;  quoted, 
66,  91,  146,  190,  205,  285 

Loeb,  William,  17,  46; 
quoted,  116,  204,  271,  289, 
297,  344,  357;  story  told 
by,  224 

"Loyal  Publication  Society," 
24 

Ludlow,  Dr.  James  M., 
quoted,  21,  25,  31,  325, 
335 

March,  General,  letter  to, 
194 

Martin,  Edward  S.,  referred 
to,  20 

Martin,  E.  B.,  cited,  51 

McGrath,  Mr.,  cited,  17; 
quoted,  130,  139,  143,  164, 
206,  345 

McKinley,  William,  forgiv 
ing  nature  of,  12 

McLoughlin,  Mr.,  quoted, 
335 

Meeker,  Ezra,  visit  of,  to 
White  House,  142 

Menzes,  Rabbi,  quoted,  200 

Methodist  congregations, 
331 

Micah  6.  8,  the  standard  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  257;  con 
stantly  repeated  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  321 

Military  training,  universal, 
favored  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
147 

Missions,  foreign,  com 
mended  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
369 

Mistral,  Mr.,  letter  to,  250 

Mitchel,  John  Purroy,  inci 
dent  in  campaign  of,  for 
mayor  of  New  York,  173 


Money,  secondary,  92 
Monroe  Doctrine,  103 
Mores,  Marquis  de,  incident 

concerning,   79 
Morgan,  James,  quoted,  322 
Morley,  Mr.,  quoted,  17,  133 
Mother,   cable  to   Mr.   Riis', 

141 
Motherhood,        exhortations 

concerning,  215 
Moving  pictures,  Mr.  Roose 
velt    not    averse    to    ap 
pearing  in,  170 
Mrs.     Roosevelt,     an     ideal 
home-maker.    39;    maiden 
name   of,    43;    descendant 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  44; 
incident    concerning,    46; 
quoted,  315 

Multimillionaire,  material 
life  of  the,  139 

Nast,  Thomas,  tribute  to,  74 
Newett,  George  A.,  sued  by 

Mr.    Roosevelt    for    libel, 

293-297 
Newspaper       "Cabinet" 

formed  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 

121 
Newspaper     men,     warning 

given  to,  38;  loyalty  of  to 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  136;  given 

to  joking,  248 
Newspapers,   a   wrong   kind 

of,  100 

Office,  appointing  men  to, 
97;  low  type  of  men  nomi 
nated  for,  300 

O'Laughlin,  John  Callan, 
370 

Organization,  party,  341 

Osborn,  H.  F.,  review  of 
book  by,  265 

Outlook,  The,  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  connection  with, 
156 


380 


INDEX 


Oyster  Bay,  churches  In, 
233;  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
church  attendance  at,  346 

Pacific  Theological  Semi 
nary  lectures,  cited,  41, 

46,    50,    53,    98,    172,    174, 

249,  286,  312,  316 
Paine,    Tom,    incident    con 
cerning,   239 
Panama     Canal,     visit     of 

President     Roosevelt     to, 

178;    building  of  referred 

to,  195 
Panama,  taking  of,  defended, 

115;  importance  of,  195 
Pardons     for     unquestioned 

criminals   discouraged   by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  155 
Parker,  Judge,   referred  to, 

117 
Parkhurst,   Dr.   Charles   H., 

33 
Pastors,     city,    address    to, 

337 
Payne,    George    H.,    quoted, 

154,  191 

Payne,  Mr.,  quoted,  278 
Peck,  Professor  Harry  Thur- 

ston,  227 

Penn,  William,  20 
Perks,  Sir  Robert,  visit  of, 

to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  259 
Pershing,        General,        12; 

quoted,  53 
Personal    approval    enjoyed 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  167 
Pharisees,  "legal"  dodges  of 

the,  98 
Philippines,  task  of  America 

in,  190 
Phrases      coined      by      Mr. 

Roosevelt,  280 
Pilgrim    Fathers,    believers 

in  prayer,  12 

Pinchot,   Gifford,   cited,    17; 
quoted,  116,  119,  205,  207, 


226,    279;    statements    by, 

238 
Pioneers    aided    by 

preachers,  330 
Platt,   Senator,   185 
Police,  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first 

interest  in,  31 
Police     commissioner,     145, 

159,  187,  285 

Politicians,  policy  of,  244 
Polk,  Dr.,  story  of,  167 
Pope     not    visited    by    Mr. 

Roosevelt,  197,  198 
Popularity  of  Mr.  Roosevelt, 

his  own  view  of,  133 
Post       Office       Department, 

graft  in,  218 

Prayer,  custom  of  formal,  270 
"Preparedness,"   319 
Pritchett,  Henry  F.,  129 
Prize   fighting,   284 
Profanity,  not  used  by  Mr. 

Roosevelt,  276,  279 
Progressive     Party,      social 

program  of,  109;  work  of, 

117;  referred  to,  301 
"Progressive"   statement,   a, 

193 
Prohibition  favored  by  Mr. 

Roosevelt,  299,  301 
Prophet,  Mr.  Roosevelt  con 
sidered  himself  one,  94 
"Protective      War      Claims 

Association,"  24 
Protestant  institutions,  327 
Public  Opinion,  editorial  in, 

226 
Putnam,       Major       George 

Haven,  17;  quoted,  26,  46, 

84,  240,  252 
"Put    out    the    light,"    Mr. 

Roosevelt's     last     words, 

274 

Quay,    Senator,    157 
Quigg,  Lemuel,  referred  to, 
91 


INDEX 


381 


Race  suicide,  215 

Kanck,  Rev.  Henry,  349 

Reformation,  believed  in  by 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  268 

Religion  the  heart  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  life,  11;  the 
builder  of  earth's  greatest 
leaders,  11;  the  subject  of 
not  to  be  left  to  evidence 
of  mere  declarations  of  an 
author,  13;  does  not  con 
sist  of  a  single  virtue,  16; 
not  used  as  a  cloak  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  228;  natural  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  324 

Republic,  new  Russian, 
cited,  95 

Richberg,  a  party  leader, 
quoted,  120;  referred  to, 
124 

Riches,  a  hindrance  to  suc 
cess,  71 

Rlis,  Jacob,  story  told  by, 
34;  quoted,  59,  91,  113, 
147,  168,  188,  217,  257; 
complimented  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  136;  dealings  of 
with  War  Department, 
138;  a  cable  concerning, 
141;  recovery  of,  from  ill 
ness,  142;  his  apprecia 
tion  of  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
166;  how  attracted  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  209;  plea  of  re 
fused  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
222 

Riots  at  East  Saint  Louis 
condemned,  95 

Rixey,  Surgeon-General,  186 

Robbins,  Thomas  A.,  story 
told  by,  160 

Robinson,  Mrs.  Corinne 
Roosevelt,  cited,  17; 
quoted,  26,  28,  30,  32,  35, 
36,  57,  71,  74,  146,  176, 
201,  229,  251,  266,  271, 
305,  343,  357;  address  by, 


162;  Sunday  school  in  her 

home  described  by,  207 
Roman  Catholics,   South 

American,  326 
Roosevelt,        Alice,        story 

about,  67 

Roosevelt  Hospital,  26 
Roosevelt,  Isaac,  20 
Roosevelt,    Kermit,    quoted, 

52,  55,   126,   195,  203,  229, 
344 

Roosevelt,  Nicholas,  J.,  20 

Roosevelt,  Quentin,  tribute 
to,  53;  exploits  of  de 
scribed,  60,  61;  in  amateur 
theatricals,  64;  death  of 
referred  to  by  his  father, 
66;  news  of  death  of,  334; 
last  communion  of,  335 

Roosevelt,  R.  B.,  a  Presi 
dential  elector,  22 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  reli 
gion  of,  not  emphasized 
by  his  biographers,  11; 
the  kind  of  man  built  by 
pure  religion,  13;  work 
able  creed  possessed  by, 
15;  quoted,  15,  17,  19,  20, 
21,  28,  30,  33,  35,.  37,  41, 
42,  45,  46,  47,  49,  50,  51, 

53,  55,   59,   60,   62,    64,  66, 
68,   69,   71,   73,   74,   80,   81, 
84,   90,   92,   93,   94,    96,   97, 
98,  100,  102,  103,  104,  107, 
108,  109,  110,  112,  113,  114, 
117,  118,  123,  124,  121.  128, 
131,  133,  135,  139,  145,  147, 
150,  151,  157,  162,  165,  167, 
169,  172,  173,  174,  175,  184, 
185,  188,  189,  190,  193,  199, 
201,    204,    208,     210,     212, 
215,  216,  234,  240,  243,  249, 
250,  253,  254,  255,  256,  258, 
259,  260,  261,  264,  265,  266, 
267,  269,  273,  280,  281,  282, 
283,  284,  292,  298,  299,  300, 
302,  306-311,  313,  317,  321, 


382 


INDEX 


326,  327-334,  336,  337,  339, 
343,  357,  358,  359,  360,  361, 
362,  363,364,  366,  368,  369; 
religious  training  of,  15; 
religion  of,  traced  back 
to  childhood,  16;  reared 
in  a  religious  home,  17; 
childhood  home  of,  19,  28; 
paternal  ancestor  of,  19; 
ancestry  of,  on  mother's 
side,  20;  teaching  of 
father  of,  20;  loyal  to 
memory  of  his  father,  22 ; 
incident  of  inaugural  of, 
22;  raised  in  a  "loyal" 
household,  23;  mother  of, 
27;  interest  of,  in  Police 
Department,  31;  meaning 
of  name  of,  31;  first 
notable  book  read  by, 
32;  as  a  Sunday-school 
teacher,  33,  34;  location  of 
home  of,  37;  trophies  be 
longing  to,  38;  letter  of, 
to  Kermit,  39,  42;  hospi 
tality  of,  40;  family  rela 
tionships  of,  40;  children 
of,  42 ;  practiced  what 
he  preached,  43;  weekly 
letter  to  his  children,  44; 
effect  of  Quentin's  death 
upon,  44;  his  view  of 
woman  suffrage,  45;  chil 
dren  of,  religiously  in 
structed,  47;  rebuke  ad 
ministered  by,  49;  an 
athlete,  50;  religious 
education  emphasized  by, 
51;  attitude  of,  toward 
Sunday  schools,  52;  a 
helpful  father,  55 ;  no 
hardness  in  nature,  57; 
valued  children's  confi 
dence,  58;  camping  trips 
of,  64;  in  character  of 
Santa  Glaus,  68;  attend 
ance  of  children  at  public 


school,  68;  commencement 
address  by,  69;  providen 
tially  prepared  for  his 
career,  71;  wealth  ac 
cepted  as  a  God  given 
trust,  72;  called  "Teedie," 
73;  diary  kept  by,  75;  a 
sufferer  from  asthma,  75; 
timidity  of,  76;  fear,  ban 
ished  by,  76;  concentra 
tion  of,  77;  hunting  feat 
performed  by,  77;  vigor 
ous  experiences  of,  78;  his 
life  with  cow  punchers, 
79;  not  primarily  inter 
ested  in  party  politics,  81; 
interest  in  War  of  1812, 
83;  city-raised,  85;  his 
entrance  into  politics,  85; 
discouraging  tests,  86,  87; 
trip  to  Yellowstone  Park, 
88;  his  salary  with  The 
Outlook,  92;  his  sturdy 
personality  not  an  acci 
dent,  93;  believed  himself 
a  prophet  to  warn 
America,  94;  address  of, 
at  Christiania,  Norway, 
96;  address  of,  at  Grant's 
birthplace,  97;  moral  dis 
orders  believed  to  be 
dangerous,  99;  personal 
attack  made  on  by 
hired  thug,  100;  anr 
nouncement  of,  that  sa 
loons  must  close,  106;  a 
"Trust,"  caught  stealing, 
prosecuted  by,  108;  return 
of,  from  Africa,  108;  en 
trance  into  Philippines 
favored  by,  110;  a  leader 
of  righteousness,  112;  his 
admitted  egotism,  113; 
never  irritable,  114;  re 
sponsibility  to  his  Crea 
tor,  118;  association  of, 
with  scalawags,  121;  invi- 


INDEX 


tations  to  lecture  received 
by,  122;  illness  of,  in 
South  Africa,  125;  at 
tempted  assassination  of, 
in  Milwaukee,  126;  readi 
ness  of,  for  possible  attack, 
127;  incident  of  his  inau 
guration,  128,  129;  never 
"swallowed"  his  convic 
tions,  130;  reception  of, 
en  return  from  African 
trip,  132;  courtesy  of, 
135 ;  popular  with  news 
paper  men,  136;  incident 
of  funeral  of,  137;  patience 
of,  139;  his  thoughtful 
consideration  of  others, 
143,  144;  not  an  "election- 
time"  friend,  150;  lecture 
of,  on  African  trip,  151; 
approachableness  of,  153; 
democratic  qualities  of, 
157;  a  lover  of  animals, 
158;  accepts  vice-presi 
dency  of  Public  School 
Athletic  League,  161; 
pleased  by  backing  of  the 
"common"  people,  168; 
happy  spirit  of,  172;  his 
dealings  with  corporations 
and  "labor,"  181 ;  speech 
of,  nominating  William 
McKinley,  190;  possessed 
many  friends,  199;  health 
of,  broken,  202;  last  ap 
pearance  of,  202;  death  of, 
203;  practiced  what  he 
preached,  212;  charged 
with  meddling,  217;  for 
giving  toward  adversaries, 
222;  applauded  by  Wil 
liam  Barnes,  223;  home 
town  tribute  to,  224;  his 
attitude  toward  a  re 
formed  criminal,  226; 
reticent  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  228;  a  true 


Christian,  230 ;  con 
siderate  of  all  forms  of 
faith,  239;  tribute  of  uni 
versity  students  to,  242; 
injustice  and  tyranny 
fought  by,  246;  spiritual- 
mindedness  of,  249;  clear- 
cut  creed  possessed  by, 
254;  pure  and  reverend 
mind  of,  275;  masculinity 
of,  276;  testimony  that  he 
was  not  profane,  278; 
could  not  endure  a  lie, 
280;  fond  of  boxing,  284; 
purity  of,  291;  not  a  total 
abstainer,  298;  inaugu 
rated  Vice-President,  305; 
asked  to  resign  as  Sunday- 
school  teacher,  342;  fun 
eral  of,  348;  his  church 
home  in  Washington,  D. 
C.,  349 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  Sr., 
political  experience  of,  22; 
marriage  of,  22;  legisla 
tion  carried  through  by, 
23;  member  of  Union 
League  Club,  24;  organ 
izer  of  Soldiers'  Employ 
ment  Bureau,  24;  inter 
ested  in  Newsboys'  Lodg 
ing  Houses,  25,  33;  Roose 
velt  Hospital  due  to  efforts 
of,  26;  supporter  of  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  27;  death  of,  27;  a 
Sunday-school  teacher,  33 

Roosevelt,  W.  Emlen,  cited, 
17;  quoted,  29,  77,  121, 
140,  239,  278,  289,  344 

Root,  Elihu,  quoted,  91;  tri 
bute  to,  148 

Rough  Riders,  122;  first 
skirmish  of,  147;  warmly 
regarded  by  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  152 ;  nicknames 
given  to,  171;  words  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt  to,  196 


384 


INDEX 


Royalty,  English,  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  attitude  toward,  131 

Russell,  Alfred  Henry,  posi 
tion  of,  commended,  254 

Saloon,    the,    Mr.    Roosevelt 

against,  299 
Salvation  Army,  tribute  to, 

269 
Scandalmongers,  detested  by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  174 
Schick,  Rev.  John  M.,  350 
Schools,  public,  68 
Scientists,  rationalistic,  264; 

dogmatic,  269 
Self-government,   261 
Sentiment,  what  it  is,  136 
Sewall,    "Bill,"    quoted,    48, 

76,    79,    86,    87,    114,    119, 

125,    145,     149,    211,     230; 

letter  of,  to  Mr.  Roosevelt, 

231;     cited,    17,    76,    104; 

visit     of,      to      President 

Roosevelt,  148 
Shaw,  Albert,  quoted,  208 
Slattery,  Rev.  C.  L.,  quoted, 

37 

Smith,  Dr.  Arthur  H.,  sug 
gestion  made  by,  367 
Smith,    General,    trial    and 

discharge  of,  154 
Sobat,  mission  at,  described 

by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  369 
Social     Evolution      (Kidd), 

criticized,  255,  260 
Socialism,  French,  215 
Soldiers     become     generals, 

148;  commended,  358 
Soldiers'       Employment 

Bureau,  24 
Sorbonne,  the,  Paris  lecture 

delivered  by  Mr.  Roosevelt 

at,  253,  265 
Southern  blood,  20 
Spanish  War,  345 
Special    favors    refused    by 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  121 


Spurgeon,  J.  H.,  quoted,  165 
Stanley,  Henry  M.,  32 
State      dinner      at      White 

House,  incident  of,  132 
Steerage,  address  in,  322 
Stimson,  Colonel  H.  L., 

work  of  and  words  of,  231 
Stoddard,  H.   L.,   cited,   17; 

quoted,   49,    120,    162,   169, 

175,  237,  263 
Stowe,      Harriet      Beecher, 

quoted,  70;  referred  to,  74 
Straus,     Oscar,     cited,     17; 

quoted,  119,  227,  236,  237 
Street,    Julian,    quoted,    66, 

169,  202 

Success,  the  essential  of,  90 
Sullivan,  Mark,  quoted,  277 
Sim,  New  York,  quoted,  326 
Sunday  closing,  101 
Sunday,  not  a  holiday,  360; 

pleasure  seeking  on,  361 
Sunday  school  at  home,  the, 

207 

Taft,  W.  H.,  referred  to,  85, 

124;    quoted,   224,    230 
"Tainted"  people,  288 
Talmage,    Rev.    George    E., 

348;   quoted,  355 
Tammany,  words  to,  322 
Tarbell,    Ida   M.,   story  told 

by,  56 
Temper,      Mr.      Roosevelt's 

difficulty  with,  166 
Text,    Mr.    Roosevelt's 

favorite,  321 
Thayer,  Mr.,  quoted,  35,  81, 

82,  123,  140,  233 
Theodore  Roosevelt's 

Letters    to   His    Children, 

37;  wide  sale  of,  48 
Thompson,       Charles       W.t 

quoted,  141 

Thompson,  D.D.,  letter  writ 
ten  to  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 


INDEX 


385 


167;    quoted,    299;    cited, 
330 
Thwing,  Eugene,  quoted,  91, 

242 

Tillman,  Senator,  158 
Titanic,   sinking   of,    12 
Tobacco,  never  used  by  Mr. 

Roosevelt,  284 

Treaty,  peace,  between  Rus 
sia  and  Japan,  103 
Trevelyan,      George,      cited, 
286 

Uganda,  benefited  by  United 
States,  369 

United  States  Senate, 
bribery  and  graft  in,  107 

University  of  Berlin,  lec 
ture  delivered  at,  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  266 

University  students,  Eng 
lish,  doggerel  written  by, 
242 

Unselfishness  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  evidences  of,  124,  125 

Van  Valkenburg,  A.  G.,  cited, 
17;  quoted,  40,  118,  127;  a 
critic  of  speech  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  130;  quoted, 
199,  206,  219,  221,  232,  251, 
278,  289 

Velsor,  Calvin  B.,  cited,  312 
Venezuela,  case  of,  196 
Volumes,    quoted   from,   list 

of,    13,    14 

Von  Sternberg,  referred  to, 
177 

Washburne,  Charles  A., 
quoted,  84,  245,  342 

Washington,  Booker  T., 
entertainment  of  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt  at  dinner,  146 

Washington,  George,  peti 
tions  offered  by,  12 


Wealth,  makes  service  pos 
sible,  72 

Welling,  Richard,  quoted, 
289 

White,  Henry,  126 

White,  William  Allen, 
quoted,  232,  255,  326,  356 

Whitman,  Governor  Charles 
S.,  302 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  reelec 
tion  of,  117;  refusal  of,  to 
permit  Mr.  Roosevelt  to 
take  military  leadership, 
122;  referred  to,  146; 
magnanimous  offer  of,  185 

Woman's  Central  Associa 
tion  of  Relief,  24 

Wood,  Andrew  B.,  quoted, 
301 

Wood,  Henry  A.  Wise, 
quoted,  137 

Wood,  Leonard  B.,  letter 
written  by,  facing  page 
11;  cited,  17;  quoted,  176, 
230 

Woodbury,  John,  185 

Woodson,  Rev.  Charles  R., 
quoted,  151,  234 

World  War,  the,  Mr.  Roose 
velt's  view  of,  110,  365 

World,  a  God-ordered,  263 

Yellow  journalism,  100 

Yellowstone  Park,  President 
Roosevelt's  visit  to,  88; 
incident  of  trip,  138;  ad 
dress  made  on  trip,  152 

Young,  General,  promoted 
by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  148 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso 
ciation,  address  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  at,  290 

Zaring,  E.  Robb,  incident  re 
lated  by,  322 


THIS  EOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAR  22  1937 


! 


LD  21-100m-8,'34 


VB  37975  '' 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


